Spellcaster
by Verlerious
Summary: Someone inside the Sanc Kingdom is trying to take over, and only two soldiers, a knight, a diplomat, and an elf can save the world from being conquered.
1. Spellcaster 1

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comments: I have an obsession for fantasy books and stories. *shrugs* So sue me.

Spellcaster 1

"Heero Yuy, I have a mission for you." Treize smiled as he placed his elbows on the desk in front of him and rested his chin in his hands. "I need you to accompany one young representative by the name of Quatre Raberba Winner to the Sanc Kingdom." He smiled over at the named boy sitting in a chair beside Heero Yuy.

Heero glanced over at the representative frowning slightly before nodding to the king. "Yes sir."

"Now to make this certain, nothing is to happen to this young man. He is very important to this cause." Treize smiled then waved towards the door. "You're dismissed."

"Hn. Yes sir" He stood and walked toward the door, then stopped and waited for Quatre.

Quatre stood and bowed slightly to Treize. "I will do my best, Your Highness."

Treize nodded slightly. "I know you will, Quatre. Just do what you can and find out what's going on at the Sanc Kingdom." His eyes flickered towards Heero for a second. "Tell Heero before you leave." He cleared his throat. "There is someone else I want you to take with you." Treize couldn't help the smirk that came across his face. "A mercenary by the name of Wufei Chang. He'll help you take care of this young man. You can take Specialist Trowa Barton with you if you wish, but that's all. A whole army is not need for this mission, understand?"

Heero struggled to keep his glare at bay. "Yes sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

Heero blinked and looked the mercenary up and down before lifting an eyebrow. "Wufei the mercenary, I take it."

"Treize and his sense of humor," the mercenary muttered under his breath. "I'm a knight, not a mercenary. I do not fight for money, I fight for honor."

Heero shrugged. "I don't care." He turned away. He ended up meeting the mercen-knight out in the hall as soon as he left King Treize's office. The man looked ready to fight. He had a grace to him that spoke of a good swordsman. He had shoulder length black hair put in a ponytail that was a custom to the people of the Chan civilization. Strangely enough, he didn't wear armor or have an arrogant attitude like most knights in this time. Someone like this would prove helpful in his mission. "What are you supposed to tell me, representative?" Heero said turning to look at the blond boy. 

Quatre, the blond, smiled slightly. Though he was small in bearing and apparently unable to fight with anything beyond a bow, he was definitely a very intellectual boy. He seemed very innocent and polite, giving him a very good amount of respect from just about anyone. And that, Heero found out, was why he couldn't like the boy as a friend. Too much innocence could jeopardize everything. "I'm supposed to tell you what's happening in Sanc. Apparently, someone is trying to take over the Sanc Kingdom and rule Miss Relena, the leader of Sanc, out. I was informed that there's a group of rebels waiting outside of the kingdom ready to attack if they don't give up." He looked around making sure no one was listening before moving closer and speaking in a whisper. "They say the man after the throne is none other than her own brother, Milliardo Peacecraft."

Wufei folded his arms over his chest. "And you're saying that you're supposed to go all the way over there as a representative of Treize to convince him not to take Sanc? Are you mad?! Men like that don't listen to small talk or make deals. They always get what they want." He sniffed. 

"Hn. It doesn't matter. A mission is a mission." Heero turned away from them. "You two wait outside the gate with the horses, I'll get Barton. Be ready to move out when I get there." The three split off, two towards the gate, one to find Specialist Trowa Barton. They never once felt the presence of someone spying on them from the darkness. 

"Will see about that, Mr. Yuy." There was a slight giggle before the figure disappeared.

It wasn't long before the four boys were on their way to the Sanc Kingdom. The tension in the air was strong and very uncomfortable. Quatre had tried getting the other three to loosen up a bit, but had giving up not more then five minutes into the journey. He sighed as he looked at his other companions. Their leader, Heero, was determined to get to Sanc. Since early that day they hadn't stopped to rest but once, and that was only because Quatre had suggested it. Heero hadn't taken it lightly though, nor did Wufei. Quatre had the biggest feeling Wufei didn't like him in the least. Every time he tried to make conversation with the guy, he just sneered and moved back a step more behind his horse.

They had made somewhat of a triangle around the blond. Heero was in the front, leading of course, Wufei was to one side, and Trowa to the other. Quatre was put in the middle, told it was for his own protection. He sighed as he looked over at Trowa at his other side. The man was even more silent then Heero was. But there was something different about him, something...special. Trowa never responded to his attempts at talking, but every so often Quatre would catch him watching him. When their eyes would meet, Quatre's stomach would begin to do flips. His heart would beat faster, and he would find himself looking away, feeling his ears burning. It was something of a weird feeling. He had never felt anything like it before.

He placed his hand over his heart. One of his abilities was being able to feel other people's feelings. It was another reason why he was picked as the representative of OZ. But never had he felt so strongly the feelings flowing from these three. Determination. Honor. A sense of purpose. It wasn't much, but it was the most he had ever felt in a lifetime. Sighing again, he looked through the trees surrounding them. A three-day ride. That's how long it would take them to get to Sanc. Would they be too late? What would happen if the man planning to take over decided to not agree to his terms? A war would happen, that's what. In any case, that's what he would find out in the next two days. The forest was the only thing between OZ and Sanc. Until they gout out of the forest, there was nothing he co-

He stopped his horse so suddenly that the others drew reign and looked at him in confusion. He looked around feeling a hidden presence close by. Closing his eyes, he allowed his empathy to reach out and find the intrusion. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Heero turned and rode back towards him. "What are you-"

"Shh." Quatre placed a finger over his mouth. He frowned. Whatever it was, it was out there...watching them. It wasn't going to do anything while they just sat there. Opening his eyes, he forced the others closer to him by whispering. "There's something out there."

Heero glared his annoyance visible. "We don't have time for these games."

Quatre narrowed his eyes at him. "This is no game. I can sense something close by."

Trowa spoke the first words ever heard from him during the journey. "It could be a squirrel." Quatre stared at the boy in shock. He would never have guessed the other had such a rich beautiful voice.

"Hn." Heero turned his horse, Zero, around facing their destination. He stared briefly into the trees before grunting again. "Let's keep moving anyway. If there's something waiting on us, it's unlikely that it'll try to attack us in daylight." With that, he started Zero moving again. The two experienced soldiers quickly started moving to catch up. Quatre delayed a moment, trying to pick out the presence again. Nothing was there. He sighed to himself as he made Little Rock run to catch up to the others. 

"Maybe it was just a squirrel," he whispered to himself. It was getting close to nightfall, and they still had a long ways ahead of them.

The figure hidden in the darkness of the trees cackled slightly as he watched the four boys riding away. He released his hold on the silver cross around his neck, feeling its magic release its hold on him. Things couldn't possibly have been any better. His luck was running perfectly. He had planned to look for bandits hiding out in the forest to steal their treasure for his own. But instead of finding bandits, he found three soldiers guarding some rich kid; a person bound to have a lot of loot. And still the best thing about this was that there were only three guards. What kind of rich man would rely on three guys for protection? He paused in his thinking. Besides one with magic. He was shocked when the blond boy turned towards him, seemingly pointing him out with little trouble at all.

The figure laughed again, his butt long chestnut braid swinging behind his back with his mirth as if alive and wanting to express its master's joy. No one had magic like he did. There was no other like it. He clasped the necklace in his hand again. What he possessed was possibly the most dangerous weapon in the world. If used wrongly, it could destroy the world. He smiled ruefully. That's why it was left in his hands to take care of. In the wrong hands, it would prove an excellent tool for war. Unconsciously, he rubbed at one of his pointy ears. It was those kind of people that brought him to his way of life. His whole race was gone all because of this. He tightened his hold on the cross. After a time, he released his hold on the necklace. It was time to move. Dusk was here.

It was well into the middle of the night when Heero signaled a stop. "We'll rest here." Heero looked to the blond shaking himself trying to stay awake. He wasn't sure if he should believe what the blond has said about the presence in the trees. He'd heard of people able to sense other people's feelings and thoughts but never took to light if it were true or not. All his life he never relied on others and trusted no one but himself. To do so now was out of the question. He had only himself to rely on. Trust could jeopardize everything, especially the mission.

Slipping from Zero's back, he looked around imprinting the surrounding area to memory. He heard running water nearby, a small stream maybe. They could use that to refill their water skins. There were a few berry bushes and trees with fruits in them. That would provide them with food. The dead and dying tree branches and twigs around would help with making the fire. Yes, this would be a perfect place to rest. 

Trowa walked up to him, Arms behind him nickering and pushing playfully on his back. He looked at Heero through his on visible eye for a second before speaking. "I'll tie Zero up for you." Heero nodded and allowed him to take Zero away. Slowly, Heero walked towards Quatre.

"Do you think you can make a fire?" The blond boy slid off his horse before turning to Heero with a frown. 

"I don't think it'll be that hard to make a fire, Heero." His small pale face shined with indignation. 

Heero glazed at the young man, not in the least happy with this whole situation. "Then make a fire," he growled. He turned his back to the boy and began walking towards Wufei before the representative had a chance to say anything. He didn't know what it was about the but that he found irritating. It could be the smart intellect he showed at times or his inability to fight. It had to be one of those choices. There was no way he could be jealous of his respect and freely flowing friendliness. No way at all.

Wufei looked up at him when he was close enough. There was an obvious frown on his face, probably from having to be on such a simple mission where their only purpose was playing bodyguard for some little worthless kid. Heero shook his head at his own musings. He was letting this get too out of hand. Once the mission was over he would be done with it, and the blond boy. "There's a stream nearby," said stopping in front of the ebony haired boy. "Refill the water skins."

Wufei nodded. "How much longer do I have to take this?" he muttered to himself. "I swear, Treize and his sense of humor." He looked towards the stream. "This is a joke, isn't it? What possible danger would require two well-trained soldiers and a knight?" He sighed as he walked into the surrounding trees towards the small stream. Heero stared after him for a while longer before turning his attention back to the blond. The boy was just finishing stacking the sticks, with the help of Trowa Barton. Heero narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew he could trust his two companions with guarding the boy's life. 

"Hn." It appeared that Treize was playing with all of their lives. He looked at Quatre who had just started the fire with little trouble at all. There was more there than that small body. A certain grace surrounded the boy that Heero hadn't noticed before. It was becoming more certain that the boy had fought at least some point in his life. Heero shook his head. He wasn't a representative. Treize was using him for something else. But what...? Heero found he had growing respect for the boy, if not much. He would figure it out soon enough. Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the forest surroundings. Unconsciously, his hand snaked down to the sword at his hip. His hand rested on the hilt with a sort of comfortable reassurance. If something was out there, it had no chance at living if it thought it had the better of them.

Sighing Heero turned to find the others of the small band huddled around the fire and laying out pallets to sleep on. When they looked towards him, he held up a hand signaling that he would take first watch. Another gesture showed Wufei to have second watch and another tell Trowa he had third. The other three nodded their agreement, Quatre sighing knowing the reason for his being left out of the watch, before stretching out on their makeshift beds. It wasn't long before Heero heard the sound of deep sleepers and found himself alone in the watchful darkness, the living sentry. His sword began to glow. 

The figure in the darkened forest peeked around the trunk of a tree, staring towards the burning fire and the man sitting guard at the camp's edge. He smiled evilly pretty much forcing himself not to laugh at the simplicity of the job at hand. Only one of them was awake. It would take no time to finish this. A quick slash and it would be over. But he would have to move quickly. Use surprise to confuse the soldier. 

Smiling, the figured grabbed hold of the cross around his neck as the magic seeped into him. Like a shadow in the night, his form disappeared, cloaked within the darkness. In this state, the soldier would never suspect a thing was going to happen. He pulled a knife from the waistband of his pants and began moving towards the soldier, his indigo colored eyes somehow seeming to glow brightly in the darkened night.

Heero felt a warm sensation in his hand and looked down finding his hand cupping the hilt of the sword. He shook his head in confusion not understanding what was going on. Then his eyes caught sight of the glowing sword. He stared at the sword with a look of wonder as he pulled it free from his side. Holding it up in front of him he stared at it deciding that this was the cause of the sudden warmth. Then a thought occurred. What was causing the sword to glow? He looked around in search of the problem. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei were still asleep around the dying ember of the fire. It wasn't coming from there. He looked towards the forest. Was it coming from the forest itself? Could it be the thing Quatre was talking about? 

Heero found himself doubting everything he had said about the thing in the woods just being the blonde's imagination. The sword glowed brighter and was becoming unbearably hot. Whatever was causing the problem, it was coming closer. His face set in firm determination, Heero stood to his feet, staring into the trees in front of him. He would be prepared when it came. He tightened his hold on the sword's hilt. The hilt burnt into his skin. He didn't care. He wasn't about to show weaknesses to some stupid animal that just wondered into the campground. And then it happened.

Something jumped out of the trees at him. Heero blinked and backed away just before he heard the swish of something sharp going by his ear. Whatever it was, it was aiming to kill! Growling, Heero crouched down and looked around for his enemy. It was no where to be seen. Suddenly, he heard something apparently not seen. Heero stared in shock. There was nothing in front of him. Was he fighting a ghost or something of the like? He bared his teeth as he twisted the sword around aiming for where the chest would most likely be. The action caused something to happen as the tip of the sword caught hold of something ripping it away from whatever it was on. 

Heero frowned as he looked at the sword's tip at a small silver cross wound around it with a small chain. Blinking he looked up and froze. A young man, or girl, stood in front of him looking not much older than himself. He was looking at him in shock, his hands clutching at his chest where the necklace most likely set upon him. His indigo eyes were wide in confusion and surprise as he stared at the young soldier. His hair looked to be chestnut colored and unusually long for a guy. Using this opportunity of dumbfound, Heero rushed the male, quickly bringing up a fist to hit him in the stomach. 

The young male tumble to the ground, coughing and gagging from the suddenly impact done to his stomach. He looked up in consternation before slumping to the ground and quickly losing consciousness. Heero frowned as he looked at his sword at his side in his hand. The glowing had stopped as soon as the boy became visible. He replaced the sword at his side then kneeled down beside the boy to place the necklace in the sole of his shoe. He would have to tie the boy up and question what had happened once he woke up. Staring down at the boy, something caught his eye. Tilting his head a bit, Heero reached down and brushed a few straying locks away from the man's face. His breathing threatened to stop as he took in his discovery. He let his fingers run over the exposed pointy ear and knew it for truth. The man was an elf. 

tbc...

Well...it's going well, I would say. Stayed tuned, though I can't say when part two will be out.


	2. Spellcaster 2

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Disclaimers: *pouts* I don't own them, I'm just borrowing them *cries* They're just so kawaii!!

Comments: Yeah it's been revised. Sorry about the inconvenience of my bad typing folks. ^^ There's nothing new aside from the I replaced the words with the real stuff type. So yeah. ^^ you don't have to reread it again.

Spellcaster 2

Heero glared at the prisoner tied down to the tree. There's was something weird about this all. What was an elf doing here? In fact, how can an elf even exist?! He shook his head then stood up hopping down from the rock he had been sitting on and walking over to the thief. He frowned down at the male still knocked out. It had to be a male, even for all his beauty, his chest was extremely flat and the tight black tunic he wore proved that even with his slender frame his body still had muscles. Beauty? Heero shook his head of that thought then took hold of the end of the braid of hair. It was long and extremely soft, almost silky like letting it be know that the elf took very good care of his persons. Suddenly the man shifted slightly, his eyelids twitching, a good sign of him being close to consciousness. 

As the thief opened his eyes, Heero's mouth fell slack just slightly. He'd never seen such splendor. The eyes were a weird shade of indigo or some type of bluish-purple color. He shook his head getting his feelings back in line then glared at the man. The man for his part blinked a bit in startlement at the sudden close encounter before a little sly smile slipped onto his lips. "I think you're having a bit too much fun watching me, eh?"

Heero ignored the attempt at a joke and the slight blush that wanted to appear on his face and grunted then held up the cross he'd kept hold of earlier. "What is this?" The cross automatically tucked against his hand trying to slip free and return to its owner. Heero had known that it would do that. It'd been doing that throughout his whole watch. He found it kind of odd in a way for something not alive to feel a need to return to its owner. 

"Uh...a cross?" The braided male said forfeiting confusion and half-truths in the place of the inevitable answer.

Heero nodded slightly and started swinging the cross back and forth before the boy who watched intently and swallowed. The cross continued pulling against his hand as he did this. "What are you doing with it?"

The man smirked turning his eyes from the cross to Heero's. "Inheritance."

Heero shook his head. "You're a thief. You probably stole it."

"Now...why would I want to steal a cross?" the male said rocking the heel of a foot back and forth on the ground. 

Heero just blinked catching the nervous action. "Cause you're a thief."

This time the male glared at him. "I may be a thief but I am _not_ a liar! So don't even think of accusing me of stealing my own stuff!"

"Hn." Heero stood up sliding the cross into his tunic pocket then delivered a glare of his own. "You're still a thief. You will be turned in to the Sanc Kingdom tomorrow. There's no question that they may execute you on the spot."

"Seems to me you don't know the Sanc Kingdom very well hm?" The thief shifted slightly again, getting more comfortable it seemed as he looked up at Heero with another grin. "They're a pacifist nation, of course they won't execute. They'd barely keep someone in a prison, and if they did they'd probably only end up feeding the poor guy into being overweight to the point that he won't wanna leave."

"Fine…I'll execute you myself before we get to the Sanc Kingdom," Heero said, something deep inside tell him that there was not way he'd be able to pull that off. 

"Oh really?" The little thief stood up, the ropes falling slack to the ground as he stretched, giving a little mischievous grin to the Heero.

Heero glared at him. He's a thief, of course he knew how to untie a knot…baka Heero. "Sit down, elf."

"An elf, really?" The thief blinked comically his expression blank for two seconds before a goofy grin broke out on his face. "You sure there's an elf here?"

"Don't play games with me…I've seen your ears, elf." 

"So I have pointy ears, that doesn't mean I'm an elf. Lots of people have pointy ears. In fact, a lot of people have bucked teeth. But you don't see me calling them horses now do you? No that'd be an insult to a horse."

Heero glared at him, his eyes watching for any movements to be suspicious of as the boy elf started walking circles around him. "Then what are you?"

"Well…let's see…." The thief rested a hand to his chin, pretending to be deep in thought, even making an eyebrow twitch slightly. "I have pointy ears…I'm fast…I look good…I got long hair…I'm pretty…." He stopped circling him, dropping his hand to his side and grinned. "Sounds like I'm an elf."

"So you're an elf."

"Nah ah ah," the thief said waving a finger back and forth. "I said I sound like an elf, I didn't say I was an elf."

Heero grunted, getting annoyed with this quickly. The little thief was playing games with him. He didn't have time to be playing games nor did he feel up to it. "Just answer my question, are you an elf are aren't you?"

"Well…." The elf flopped down on the ground, folding his legs beneath him and resting his hands on his knees rocking slightly as he watched him. "Do you believe in elves or don't you?"

"Hn…." One of Heero's eyes twitched as he looked down at him…maybe he should kill him now and be done with this. "No. I don't believe in elves, and there's no such thing as magic." At least, that's what he was taught, even though stuff he'd went through not to much earlier did seem a bit…odd.

"Fine," the thief pushed up to his feet with a grunt, and gave a little bow giving a grin up at Heero. "Then I don't exist do I?" As he said that, he faded from sight right before Heero's eyes leaving him staring in confusion and a bit of shock at the place he once was. Heero looked around quickly, searching for the elf till he heard a whistle and looked up towards the trees. The elf stood there with a grin on his face, holding up the cross that swung back and forth in front of him. 

"You know, since you're so nice, I'll leave you my name." He hopped down from the tree standing up straight and tucking the cross away. "Name's Duo." He winked. "Where there once was a solo, now there is a Duo. Catch ya later." He blew a kiss at Heero cackling as he turned and jumped off into the darkness.

Heero grunted again, clenching his hand tightly around the sword. Why didn't it do anything this time, when he wanted it to? He looked over at the others, still fast asleep, confused as to why they hadn't woken up with all the sounds and such going on. Already this wasn't starting out as a good mission.

Duo snickered as he moved through the forest heading in the direction of the Sanc Kingdom. He'd had fun teasing the boy and the little sleep spell he'd whispered after the others fell asleep might last a little longer. But something about that certain soldier bothered him. For one, he didn't fall asleep like the others did. And for something else, he seemed to have some sort of power. But he said he didn't believe in magic. So how…?

"It's not my busy or anything but…." He tapped a finger against his chin as he walked, talking quietly to himself as his black panther friend, Scythe, hopped from the trees landing beside him to walk with him. The black panther was always with him, his comforting friend till the end. "Why would they be heading to Sanc of all places? I mean, sure it used to be a beautiful city." He reached down unconsciously rubbing a hand over the top of Scythe's head, smiling slightly as heard him purr. "Maaaybe they don't know about how bad it's gotten yet. Maybe they're like tourist and they got lost or something. Heh." He stretched his hands up above his head yawning slightly as he blinked sleepily. "Guess I'll just keep following them for a while, heh Scythe ole pal?" The panther gave another purr to that, nuzzling it's head up against Duo's leg. "Whoa there buddy, I guess you're hungry huh? Didn't ya eat already?" Duo paused as he seemed to listen to something. "What do you mean you haven't eaten yet? Some hunters you say? A girl? …Hmmm, alright lead the way!" 

Duo followed swiftly after the panther, moving quietly along, elfin ears picking up sounds almost as well as the panther as they got closer. He slowed and kneeled behind a bush peeking over it to look at the three men surrounding a girl tied up and on the ground, her face hidden underneath a sack. The three men were big burly guys with facial hair pretty much all over, not the prettiest sight at all. Duo shook his head…these guys were nothing, they'd be easy to take out. "Guess I'll teach them a lesson on not to mess with people smaller than them, hey Scythe?" he whispered standing up and walking out towards the guys. 

"Hey, fellas!" The guys quickly turning to look at him, then started laughing, the size difference very obvious since Duo was quite small. In fact, if he was right, he was a rare small compared to other elves.

"Heh," one pointed towards him, laughing still. "Looks like we have another girl to play with, boys." The others laughed hard at that.

"Hey now wait a minute." Duo blinked looking over at them, giving off the look of innocence and weakness. "Did you just call me a girl?"

"Duh. No guy's gonna look that pretty."

"In your case I can see that," Duo muttered under his breath clearing his throat and going along with it, even if he lacked certain things to be a…female. "Ok fellows, so what are we playing?" He headed over towards them, ignoring the leering looks they gave him. Riiiight. "Hey I got a game!" he said stopping before one of them looking up at him with a grin, bangs falling over his eyes cutely. "It's called, duck duck…" he lifted up a leg slamming it into the man's crotch with a grin, watching the man fall over in pain. "goose!"

"Hey!" one of them growled running towards him throwing a fist out towards him. 

"Or maybe…man around the rosy?" He grabbed the hand with his own two smaller hands as it came close, and flipped the man over him slamming him into the ground. "There's also a bit of hop scotch too you know." As he said this, he jumped up into the air as the other man tried to grab him, and landed down on his head grinning still as the man fell off balance and fell over. 

"Why you little!" The guys struggled up to their feet starting towards him menacing.

Duo rolled his eyes. "Aren't you done playing now? I really don't feel like playing you with any more. You're such sore losers." He smirked then held up a hand and snapped his fingers, watching as Scythe came from the trees, growling towards the men. The men looked at the panther with wide eyes and yelled as they turned running off, Scythe close on their heels. 

Duo rubbed behind his head. "Well…guess Scythe won't be hungry for a while, those are some really fat guys. I'm sure they won't make it that far." He shrugged and turned kneeling down in front of the girl, giving a smile of reassurance as he reached for the bag. "Hey, don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt yas ok?" He took of the mask, the smile quickly slipping from his face to become a shocked look as he took in the girl's features. "Hilde?!"

TBC….

*blinks* I'm so bad…..*whistles* I like doing cliffhangers…so sue me^^; 


	3. Spellcaster 3

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Disclaimers: *pouts* I don't own them, I'm just borrowing them *cries* They're just so kawaii!!

Comment: Yes I'm lazy and don't update like I used ta so sue me. 

Author's comments: Yes I noticed all my typos late I'm sorry for the inconvinence of being sloppy and forgetful in rereading over my work, and I swear I'll try my best to catch them all in this chapter. *bows* Gomen nasai, gomen gomen. Anyway's let's move on shall we? ^^ I'll revise the other one later *blinks* 

Spellcaster 3

"Hilde?!" Duo's eyes stayed wide in shock staring down at the girl who grinned back up at him sheepishly. She coughed for a second then struggles in her restraints.

"You think you can give me a hand here, Duo?" she asked looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"Uh…yeah sure." He reached back behind her shaking his head at the sloppy knots and quickly untied them. "What are you doing out here, Hilde? You're supposed to be in town. You know this forest is full of bandits and such."

"I had to look for you, Duo." She stood up wincing slightly as she rubbed where the ropes had been tied around her wrist. "There's a problem back in town. You have to hurry back here, Duo!"

"Whoa, slow down." He rested his hands on her shoulders and stared her in the face, smiling slightly to help keep her calm. "What's going on back in town that'd make you run out here looking for me?"

The panicked look in Hilde's eyes died down some as she visibly took a deep breath before starting. "Something's about to happen soon. I overly some guys at Howard's bar talking about destroying Maxwell Church! They set it up to happen within two days!"

Duo blinked at this. "You serious?" he asked. 

Hilde nodded. "They might have been drunk and there were only two of them, but they also mentioned there being others to help out." 

"I don't get it," Duo said shaking his head and sighing as he turned walking into a pace. "The church never did anything to hurt the people. In fact, it provides sanctuary, especially for the hurt. Why would they even think about destroying Maxwell Church?"

Hilde looked down as something bumped her leg, then smiled at Scythe reaching down and rubbing behind his ears, listening to the low rumbling of satisfaction from the beast. "They said something about using it for an example to show how wrong Queen Relena's thoughts of peace and pacifism were."

"Gah! Those bastards!" Duo growled and slammed a fist against an open palm baring his teeth in anger. 

"That's why I came out here looking for you. We have to hurry back! Those guys that capture me were part of there evil crew."

"You mean they're part of the group that's trying to destroy the church?!" Duo stared at her with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?!"

"Well…"she grinned at him batting her eyelashes cutely for a moment before continuing. "I WAS tied up and gagged at the moment. By the time you freed me, they were already panther food."

"Right right," Duo grumbled looking down at Scythe who stared back at him with innocent looking yellow orbs. "And I don't think we'll get the answer we're looking for talking to Scythe's tummy. Ain't that right, boy?" Scythe purred at that walking to him and rubbing his head against the side of his leg affectionately. Duo blinked slightly as he listened to what Scythe said. "What about the guy who had my cross? Well…he's heading to the same place so chances are we'll meet up again. Besides, I still have to get my knife back. You have any idea how hard it is to find a knife with good qualities like that one?" 

"A guy?" Hilde asked looking at him questioningly. "You mean someone stole your cross?!"

"Well…not exactly…heh heh." He rubbed behind his head grinning sheepishly as he saw the glare on Hilde's face then whistled before turning and starting to walk off. "But that's not the important thing right now, first we have to get back to Sanc to stopped the evil baddies from trying to destroy the church and everyone in it." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Do you have any clue as to how many guys are in this little group?"

Hilde shook her head starting to walk as well, moving up to walk beside him. "Not at all. I didn't get to catch all that much. I only came in at the end."

"Ah…very helpful," he said sarcastically reaching up and resting his hands behind his head. "So we have one day to save the church…sounds easy enough. Course they WOULD wait until I was out of town to try something like this, the bastards. I'm glad they got eaten. There are a lot of kids still in that church and to even THINK of destroying it, that's just plain cruel!"

"So what do you plan to do when you get there?"

"I'm not sure yet," Duo said quietly looking straight ahead, Scythe walking loyal by his side. "Maybe I can get them all out. I mean not only are they threatening lives, but they're threatening a home too…my home. And for that, I can't forgive them. Shinigami will surely have his way with them."

Hilde frowned slightly glancing out the corner of her eyes towards her friend. Shinigami…the dreadfully feared God of Death. No one survived an encounter with him…no one but Duo. Duo was touched by death often but never claimed. He was the pawn for this so called leader he proclaimed to follow and believe in. Duo and Shinigami…they were one in the same and at the same time, totally different. Duo the cheerful wide-eyed male who cared so much about the people. Then Shinigami…the cold and dark one who had no feelings and no regrets in killing its prey. 

Hilde shivered unconsciously at that thought and hugged herself rubbing at her arms feeling goose bumps. Shinigami laid dormant within the cross. No one knew just how power that little silver cross was. It held the power over someone's life…or multiple people! She had only seen it happen once…seen Duo use it. From what she knew…that was the only time he had ever used the cross. Duo had changed a bit after that. He was still his cheerful smiling self however…a lot of times it seemed a forced cheer…and at other times he would call himself Shinigami, his eyes darkening for only a few seconds before he returned to his cheerful self. That cross had done something to him. In fact, he never let it out of his sight. Considering the amount of power it contained, she understood that letting it fall into wrong hands would be very very bad. But at times…it was like he was holding on to a piece of himself. 

"….So I told the guy 'hey! I know you like me and all, and I appreciate it but I just don't swing that way!' And he was like 'you mean you're a guy?' And I couldn't believe this guy had tried to get a date with me! I mean come on! He thought I was a girl!! And…I don't even _look_ like a girl!! I mean sure I have long hair and all but…hey Hilde? You listen?" Duo blinked and reached over poking her in the shoulder lightly watching as her eyelashes fluttered quickly as she returned from her daze. 

"Huh…oh uh…yeah I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly winking at him. "But we better hurry, it's getting dark now."

"Sure thing."

Heero glared around at his surrounded in frustration. He hated this. He hated the birds that chirped cheerfully. He hated the squirrels hopping from tree to tree. He hated the way the trees loomed over them casting shadows. He hated how beautiful the day was. He hated a certain braided boy baka by the name of Duo. He hated everything. He noted in the back of his mind that maybe he was overreacting…but a soldier like him doesn't overreact. He also noted that the others of his company where getting weary of him. 

…Ok well…Quatre anyway. Trowa was flanked on Quatre's left looking off towards the trees, a bird sitting on his shoulder chirping up a storm which when Quatre had seen it, he pronounced how cute it was. Trowa had smiled back at that. Those two were beginning to get sickening with their crush. Always peeking at each other and smiling shyly and laughing at the stupidest things. He hated it. Then there was Wufei. 

Wufei flanked on Quatre's right, hadn't said a word. That worked in Heero's opinion; however, the constant clank of his metal armor was really aggravation. Not to mention every so often him grunting in reaction to whatever Quatre or Trowa did in a flirtatious manner to each other. He hated it. He hated it all. What he wouldn't do to be out in the fields fighting and killing instead of being stuck here monitoring some rich kid who had know knowledge of war at all and who was nothing more than a love sick puppy! 

Heero grunted again squeezing his legs slightly to get Zero to speed up, the horse snorting slightly at its master's impatience but following its orders nonetheless. They were only a few more hours away from town. Then they would find an inn to rest. Heero fingered the knife at the side of his belt slightly then narrowed his eyes as it once again brought him back to his memories of the elf boy. No he wasn't an elf…just some kid with growth problems and abnormal ears. Still the thought of him just made him so…angry. Which was why he was in his bad mood right now. He'd think about the elf, then get angry and start to hate everything only to think about the boy again. Why was it so important?

Heero perked suddenly, his thoughts from the night before and his anger being pushed aside. He frowned once more as he looked ahead. A figure was running towards them down the trail, heading straight for them. Heero grunted as the figure neared them, finally slowing to a stop in front of them and panting as he tried to catch his breath. 

"Please help me! My friend!"

Heero grunted, about to do his little proclamation that they were busy and on duty but Quatre beat him to the rush…with the wrong words. "Where is your friend?"

"H-he's in town! One of the guards just upright out of nowhere stabbed him! I think he's dying!"   
"Lead us to him!" Quatre said. The man nodded and turned running off again expecting him to follow. Quatre started after him but was stopped by Heero as he held his hand out blocking his way and glaring at him over his shoulder. 

"We have business of our own," Heero grounded out. 

Quatre blinked slightly then shook his head. "It's our job to help the innocent…and I can't just let him die especially without even trying. Don't you have some sense of moral in you?" Quatre looked at him questioningly. 

"Hn…." Heero thought about this. "No."

"I'm sorry…but I have to do this." Quatre rode off quickly catching up to the man that'd lead him to his friend. 

Trowa rode up to a stop beside Heero, his eyes trained on Quatre up ahead just now going down the hill. "I'll keep an eye on him," he said petting the horse's mane slightly as he got it started up again. Again Heero grunted glaring after the both of them. He hated them too…he hated all of them. He couldn't wait until this was all over so he could go back to his real work…leading the troops on the battlefield…or really leaving them to fight on his own.

He started off after him at a gallop, Wufei following at his other side. Strangely, he had not said a word since last night. It wasn't all that unnatural but this was different. Wufei would have muttered something by now…but he said absolutely nothing. Maybe he was just as tired as he was. They'd all be better once the day was over. 

TBC……

  
OK OK I know it wasn't much but I had to put up something not to mention I STILL have to revise part two. *sniffles* So much work so little time. Oh well! ^^ It's developing somewhat. And uh…now to work on Weiss only to go back to my vampire story! ^^ Then to come back here! It works better if I make up a system, oi? Review! 


	4. Spellcaster 4

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!! 

Author's comments: Hai hai it finally came, I know I know I'm too obsessed with the vampire one that I've been neglecting this one. *sniffles* But I like my vampire one. And I like this one too. 

Spellcaster 4

"He's going to live," Quatre said cleaning his hands off on a cloth nearby. The man lay on the bed, his breathing returning to a fitful sleep as he calmed himself. There were bandages tied around his waist from where he had been stabbed in the stomach. Quatre stood up from the bed smiling as he looked to the man sitting by the bed holding his friend's hand worriedly. It was obvious he cared a good deal about him. But something kept bugging Quatre about this whole situation. "Why did you have to go outside of the city to find help, Richard?"

The man looked up at him, his eyes widening before he looked down towards the bed grimly, his hand tightening around his friend's. "The city's going mad. Everyone's starting to act weird. People are stealing in daylight, death rates are going up, the people don't care anymore. That's why we wanted to leave. We were by the city gates but the guards started telling us we couldn't leave. When Haru stood up against them they stabbed him. I managed to escape and went to search for help. This….this city is cursed!"

"Shh, calm down." Quatre smiled pouring a glass of water and holding it out to him. "Here, drink this."

The man drink some of the water visibly calming down then looked up at Quatre. "Thank you. You're a saint." 

Quatre laughed slightly as he turned towards the door. "I wouldn't say that just yet." He looked at him again. "Tell me, how did this all start?"

"I…I don't know." Richard paused then looked up at him sharply as if just remembering something. "All the weird events did start around the time Prince Milliardo came to visit. He's been here a little over two months. Since then, the changes in the city have gotten much worse."

"Then I guess we will have to start at the palace," Quatre mumbled to himself. He didn't expect to be heard but the other responded to him. 

"The castle. I fear what might be going on in there. Please, be careful, don't trust anyone."

Quatre blinked then smiled reassuringly. "I will, don't worry. I was sent here to help Sanc." He turned then heading for the door.

What was taking him so long? Heero stood leaning back against the wall facing the door and glaring the daylights out of it. Trowa was sitting down beside the door prepared to go inside the room should a yell arise from his blond petite. Wufei, on the other hand, stood by the door. He still hadn't spoken but Heero was starting to get used to that. Whatever was wrong with Wufei, he would figure it out tomorrow. Maybe he was just tired. Slowly it started to occur to him. Wufei's sudden quietness had started the night the thief had appeared…could somehow the thief had caused something?

Finally, Quatre came out of the room wiping his hands on a towel. He smiled at them. "He'll be fine. He was lucky that stab wound didn't hit anything vital. A little rest and Haru will be back to his old self in no time."

"Good…let's go. Now." Heero spoke the words with a type of force, one that asked no questions.

Quatre sighed a bit then looked back at Richard standing in the doorway behind him. "Just stay here and rest a bit. Everything will be back to normal soon, I promise." The man nodded and thanked him again, seeing them to the door. Heero was grateful to be out of the house. As soon as he stepped out the door he started immediately towards his horse.

"We're going to the palace," he said as he pulled himself up on Wing and turning the horse around to face the palace.

"Wait!" Quatre said quickly as he moved running in front of Wing to stop the other from riding off. "Didn't King Treize say something about there being rebels outside of the palace?"

"If there are rebels, I will defeat them," Heero said stubbornly. The sad part about it was, he probably could defeat them alone. But the question was, how many rebels were there?

"But Heero–"

"It'll be too dangerous to be wandering around the city at night," Richard spoke from the door. "There are rumors. Not only are the rebels running around. There have been reports of weird creatures walking around. A lot of people turn up dead with missing body parts, a pure look of horror on their faces, that's if they still have faces."

"Creatures?" Quatre whispered softly, the look on his face becoming anxious.

"Rumors have a tendency to be stretched further than the truth. It's a lie, there are no creatures in the night that mutilate people." Heero glared down at Quatre in front of his horse as he finished speaking. "Get on your horse. We're leaving for the palace."

"A-at least wait until morning," Richard said licking at his lips nervously, the thoughts of the creatures apparently enough to jolt a twinge of fear in him. "Y-you can stay here, we can make room. Or, or at least at one of the taverns. But please, don't attempt this right now." Heero's eye twitched slightly. He was so tired of everyone's whining. 

"Come on, Heero, just for the night. Then we'll go to the palace and fix all of this." Quatre turned pleading eyes on him, a thing no one could ignore. Heero was beginning to see how he could be a negotiator. No one wanted to see the boy upset. 

"Fine…for tonight only. This is a very important mission that must be finished as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Quatre beamed like a reflection off a well-lit armor plate. "Thank you, Heero!" He walked over to Richard taking the other's hand in both of his and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, Richard." He laughed slightly not seeing the look Trowa was giving them, or more so towards their hands. "Can you tell us a good inn to stay at?" 

"Well…there's a place up about a block down from here. It's called 'Late Night Special.' The name's weird but the service is good. The man who owns it is called Howard. He's a close friend to mines so you can tell him I sent you. That might help with a discount. I'm sorry I couldn't help you more."

"You've been a very big help to us, Richard." Quatre smiled at him then ran over scrambling up onto Little Rock. They were lucky Richard had such a big heart. He probably would never know how much help he was to them. Because…Quatre knew that the talk about the creatures were in fact true. He'd…seen one before. And it wasn't the prettiest sight. The problem came when he tried to remember more about it, but he never could. All he knew was that he'd survived it somehow. "Heero?" He looked towards the other awaiting his decision, knowing how defensive the latter was about location and being the one to choose where they were to go. 

Heero stared towards him, for a moment appearing lost in thought before he turned Wing around and kicked off starting towards the direction Richard had said the inn was. "We'll leave first thing in the morning, so rest while you can, tomorrow will be a busy day."

Trowa and Wufei rode up claiming their spots as guards beside Quatre. Trowa looked over at him giving him a light smile for a second before he turned his attention off to the side taking in the surroundings. Quatre blinked at this then blushed looking down at Little Rock's mane. He liked that smile. He…he found he was starting to like a lot about Trowa. But of course the other wouldn't return his feelings, they were both boys after all. With that little thought, he let out a soft sigh. It was still ok to dream though.

Heero frowned from ahead as he stopped Wing. There was some sort of commotion going on. He noted quite a few of the people were running off towards one direction, chattering excited about some event. 

"They're planning to set the church on fire!" Someone yelled off to the left. 

Heero frowned? What idiots would do something like that? He didn't care about religion but…but what they were doing was wrong. He shook his head a bit and started up again slowly, heading for the inn again.

"There's some guy with a braid trying to fend them off!" 

A braid? No…any idiot can have a braid. Besides, this wasn't his concern, his mission was to get to Sanc, to fix what was happening, then get the hell back. 

"They're saying it's that kid Duo Maxwell of the Maxwell Church! What kind of idiot would go against those big guys?!" The guy who spoke quickly ran off leaving the girl he'd been talking to alone.

Maxwell?…Duo…Maxwell?

__

"You know, since you're so nice, I'll leave you my name. Name's Duo. Where there once was a solo, now there is a Duo. Catch ya later."

Heero froze where he was, his jaw moving slightly as he thought more about that. It can't be that same idiot! Heero growled and turned his steed around, looking at both Wufei and Trowa. "Take him to the 'Late Night Special,' get a room, and stay in there till I get back." He received a nod from Trowa and nothing from Wufei. A frown slipped to his lips. If this was the same Duo he thought it was, he was going to make him explain what he did to Wufei, and then he was going to capture him and turn him in for attempting to kill an officer of King Treize, for trying to kill a representative, and for trying to steal.

He turned and rode off without another word to the others, expecting they'd follow his orders. The problem would be Quatre, who had a problem with questioning his decisions. Heero was the leader, and it was his orders that were to be listened to, not Quatre. 

He scowled low in his throat as he came to a type of block. Too many people were in the way for him to continue on horseback. Quickly he slid down from Wing's back and started running again, slipping between people and pushing them out of the way in his haste to make it in time. He wasn't worried about Wing, the other knew its master, and any other that tried to get on would probably leave with a lot of injuries. He finally broke through the line turning to glare back at the group of people circling around. They all kept a distance though, playing the part of spectator. 

He turned around and his eyes widened slightly as he stared. He'd been right! The other boy was none other than Duo Maxwell. However, now the other was panting slightly, a light sheen of sweat sliding down his forehead as he took on what looked like twenty big guys. Five of them had been knocked out and were laying on the floor, but the others hadn't given up yet. It was obviously an unfair fight.

"How much you wanna bet Duo gets pounded into the ground this week?" Some guy said from behind Heero. Heero turned and glared towards the man and his partner. What kind of people betted on the survival of someone else's life? He glared towards the people too. None of them were even trying to attempt to help the other boy. Was the town falling apart or had it always been this way?

He turned again to face the fight. He was in a predicament himself. This boy had tried to kill him, why should he help him? Why did he even bother? He blamed it on the fact that he was worried over Wufei's silence, but deep down he knew that was just part of it. There was something about this…male that made him want to protect him. And he didn't know why, which made him angry. 

"How many times have I told you, I'm not letting you destroy this church!" Duo yelled out as he glared towards the men standing in front of him. "This is my home, but not only that, this is a safe haven for ALL that want entry. And for you to come and even THINK you can just barge RIGHT in, no…Shinigami CAN'T forgive you for this!"

"Shinigami, huh? And what does he plan to do about this?" the big man who spoke, who was probably the leader, held up a woman by her arms.

"Sister Helen!" Duo yelled. He bared his teeth at the man and narrowed his eyes, his fist clenched and shaking at his sides as he glared towards him. "Put her down!"

Heero glared as well. They were using dirty tricks now. No, he had to make a move, he couldn't allow this to go on any further. He'd seeing how they moved, their body masses only allowing for so much speed and agility. So…fighting these guys would be a piece of cake. He set his feet, watching his target carefully as he rested his hand on his sword before he pushed off and started running. As he pulled the sword free, he grabbed the girl from around the waist, his sword going through the big man's arm at the same time. It was a quick move, one no normal person would have been able to see. That was why Treize had picked him for this mission. He was the best, simple as that. He turned around as he came to a stop beside Duo and set the girl down not even noting the look of shock on Duo's face as he stared at him. 

Heero's eyes turned to rest on the big men staring at him as well in shock. He shook his head and slung his swords to the side, blood splatter off of it to hit onto the ground. As if that were the set off, the big man's arm suddenly slid free and fall off hitting the ground with a thump, the man himself passing out quickly from pain, blood loss, and the suddenness of the attack. Maybe now he would learn his lesson. He turned his glare down the line of big burly men. Duo finally fell out of his shock to look as well, a smirk coming to his lips.

"I suggest you all just leave before you really regret it," Duo said smugly. Some of the big men backed up then turned running away. Yes, they had to be the smartest of the group. The other 12 left still there glared as they started to advance.

"We're not leaving until the Maxwell Church is no more! It's nothing more than a house of heathens!"

"Oh, har har. Spare me the sad sob story for a day that I actually CARE!" At the last spoken word Duo pulled free his dagger and threw it, watching as it went through the heart of three men at consecutively, coming to land with a dud into the wall of a building. Heero looked over at him, impressed by the other's moves before he decided to make his own. He ran towards the men, lifting his sword up above his head and jumping into the air prepared to bring it down. The big man lifted his sword in defense, ready to deflect it. 

A smirk twinkled in Heero's eyes as he changed his mind quickly and instead brought the sword to the side then swing out it out in a big arch around him, cutting through the man's throat, his head falling free and bouncing along the ground with a fixed expression of shock. After landing on his feet, Heero quickly turned as his other enemy starting to come up behind him. His training was starting to kick in now as he dug his sword into the ground and held onto the hilt, lifting up on it and kicking out hitting the man under the chin. As he landed again he grabbed the man's sword that flew into the air and threw it down watching it sink right into the other's heart, the body going still. 

A man tried to grab for Duo but the other was quick and instead, he slid under the man's legs and lifted his feet sharply, kicking the guy so hard in the crotch he flew up into the air a bit before he landed on his stomach with a groan. Duo stood up and quickly looked around counting the men that were left. "Six down, six to go." Duo laughed at his pointed a finger towards the ones left standing. "If I were you I'd run like hell, cause if you don't now you'll be just like your other friends." He smirked. "Either dead or lacking in balls. I don't think he'll be having kids for a long time to come." As he said this he rested his foot on the downed man's head. He angled the foot and pushed down hard, hearing a snap that was very loudly heard in the darkness of the night. "Oops…guess he won't be having any kids at all now." He laughed and brushed his hands off. "Who's next?"

The other men looked towards him then drew down their weapons, turning and running off quickly. 

Duo laughed as his brushed his hands off on his pants. "Easily chased off. Man it's a shame what our world is made of isn't it?" He smiled slightly as he turned holding his hand out to Heero. "Thanks for whatcha did back there." 

Putting his sword away, Heero looked down at the hand then smacked it away, looking up at the boy and glaring. "I don't need your thanks. I did it to help the lady, not you." It was a lie, but he wouldn't admit that to himself or anyone else. He made the excuse that he missed the blood and the fighting. Genuinely, that wasn't far fetched. 

"Heh. Well…." Duo rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks anyway. Though honestly I could have taken them on myself."

Heero lifted a brow skeptically at him. "I see no psychical way that is possible." 

"Ah!" Duo snickered as he rested his arms behind his back. "So you agree then. Psychically I couldn't, but mentally yeah. I mean they were just plain stupid!"

Heero glared at him, growling a bit low in his throat. How dare this…boy act as if they were best friends?! "I am not here to chat," Heero grounded out sharply. "You did something to my friend, and I want you to fix it. After that, I am turning you in to the Sanc prison for theft and for attempting murder."

Duo whistled slightly staring at him in apprehension. "You want my help and then you wanna turn me in. And you THINK I'm going to let you do that willing?" He closed his eyes for a minute and shrugged his shoulders a bit. "Fine, whatever you say. We'll do it your way, at least until I get bored. Though," He opened his eyes smirking at him a bit and winked. "I can't promise I'll follow through."

"As an officer of King Treize's army, I am placing you under arrest." Heero turned the boy around quickly and took hold of his wrist holding them securely. There was no point in rope, even if he had some on him at the moment. Duo had ways of slipping free of them. 

"Mmm, the new style of bondage. Kinky little bastard aren't you?" Duo chuckled slightly allowing himself to be restrained by the officer. 

"Another word and I will gag you," Heero said, a small blush coming to his cheeks. He mentally beat himself for allowing this small amount of weakness over his body. Once Duo cured Wufei of whatever was done to him, Heero would turn the other boy in and never have to see him again. A part of him felt a bit of pang towards this, but he pushed it away stubbornly. He needed to get to the tavern. 

"Uh…problem at one o' clock," Duo said suddenly as he turned his head to the side. Heero followed the direction his gaze was focused towards and noted that quite a few guards were just now appearing to see what all the commotion. Someone said something and pointed in their direction suddenly, and Heero saw it like some freaky scene out of a fantasy book. The guards turned his direction, pulling free swords as they started to near him. Great, just what he needed to make his day even worse than it already was. 

"Looks like we're in trouble," Duo said sourly. 

"Not yet we aren't." Heero picked up the other boy, draping him over a shoulder as he took off running. 

"Ack! Hey!" The boy in his arms started to complain then quickly silenced his protest as he saw the guards running after them. "Not good, not good! Come on, use your super speed thing or something!" He slammed a fist against Heero's back with a growl. Just then his eyes caught sight of something, his knife stuck in the wall, something that was now become farther in distance as they were running away from it. "Ah damn! And I just got it back too!"

"Stop complaining and shut up!" Heero said pausing at the end of the block and looking left then right. Which way was it to the inn? He shook his head and turned left taking his chances. He wished he'd had time to look around the town and figure out routes and shortcuts. 

"Make a right up here," Duo said glancing to the side to see where their current position was. Heero grunted but decided to listen to the other and took a right. He wouldn't dare try to guide him wrong, especially since they were both in the same mess at the time being. He noticed they were in an alleyway now, mostly because there were no lights to be seen at all. "Ok, put me down, quick." 

Heero grunted but did so quickly taking hold of the other's hand so he wouldn't get away. He ignored how this simple action sent shivers up his body. The other didn't comment, his playfulness gone. Instead he pulled the other after him as he started up running again through the dark alley. Heero bared his teeth a bit, unable to see anything, only able to feel the other's touch. He could only hope they didn't trip on anything. The pursuit behind them was starting to quiet a bit but he was still able to hear someone following behind them. "Where are we going?"

"Shh," Duo kept running as he spoke quietly. "There's a small pocket of an alleyway close by. We'll find a back door there that leads to my friend's tavern. He'll hide us until everything calms down." Duo stopped suddenly, running his hands against the wall till he came to the opening. "Ok. It's a tight fit so stay close." He slid through the small passageway pulling Heero to follow behind him, feeling the other up close against him. He did say to stay close, but he didn't think he'd literally try to become a part of him. Duo shook his head of that thought as the mini alleyway started to widen out. Towards the end there was a small torchlight that flickered by the door. 

"Ok we made it," Duo said with a light chuckle. He stopped by the door lifting a hand and bringing it down against it twice. "Howard! It's Duo! Open up, will ya?"

Howard? Heero lifted a brow and folded his arms as he watched the door starting to open. He shifted uncomfortably though, glancing back behind them still sensing that someone was back there. He turned around resting his hand on his sword, feeling that warm sensation again. What was it? What was out there? Had one of the guards manage to follow them even through so narrow an area? There's no way they would have made it through the dark and found this place, at most they would end up past it and on the other side of the alley. 

"Hey, hurry up and get inside!" Heero turned around as he heard Duo's voice. Duo was standing at the door looking at him and gesturing for him to come over. "There's no one there so don't worry about it. Only a few of us even know anything about this." He slipped back through the door. "Sheesh, Howard, you haven't cleaned up one bit!"

Heero grunted slightly, the tingling behind him of being stalk dying away suddenly. He frowned staring suspiciously towards the darkness before he rested his hand at his side and turned fully heading inside the tavern. 

TBC

Odd place to end it but you'll live. *blinks* It's getting interesting now, I'm starting to like it more. ^^ We still have a mysterious figure lurking in the dark!….Or…Heero's imagination. We'll see. ^^ Next, Duo meets the rest of the crew, we find out what's wrong with Wufie boy, they make it to the palace to meet the queen ^^ maybe. Hmm…Trowa makes out with Q…..no no I'm just kidding maybe. Anyway, ^^ Review me!! Sorry it took me so long to update. 


	5. Spellcaster 5

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!! 

Author's comments: By request, I've decided to devote my time to typing up the next part to the fanfic. ^^ Within three days. However I was a lazy bum and I didn't get it done in time. Not to mention ff.net's was being a butthead for some reason, and not opening. But anyway, here's part five! ^^ Sorry for the delay and not having it done in three days!! But it was done quicker than normal. I think that's an improvement. *blinks* Either way Sorry. Couldn't even fulfill my reviewer's request Oi! 

Spellcaster 5

Quatre sat on the bed of his inn room, staring off towards the door. Heero hadn't returned yet. He was starting to wonder where the other ran off too, and why he sent them off ahead. It must have had something to do with all that commotion that was going on. But, why would that effect Heero? He shook his head a bit. Ever since the other night, Heero had been overly grumpy. Had something happened that Quatre didn't know about? If so, why hadn't Wufei and Trowa said anything? Was he the only one who noticed? He shook his head. Maybe Heero was just angry about having to stop last night. 

He looked off to the side looking at Trowa staring out the night window. It was a pretty cozy room. A little fire burned off to the side of Quatre, giving a hearty, welcoming warmth to the room. He sighed then smiled softly leaning back on his hands. The bed was soft too, like cotton. He could get lost in this. Wufei sat off to the other side of the bed in a chair, his arms folded but his eyes unfocused. Quatre frowned a bit. He'd noticed something odd about Wufei as well but didn't bother to mention it. He figured the other was just tired and had even suggested he lay down. But the other gave no visual response other than to sit down in that chair. He hadn't moved since.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside their room and Quatre hopped to his feet quickly in confusion. Trowa was beside him instantly, pushing the smaller boy back behind him as he pulled out his sword watching the door. The handle jiggled slightly before a hand started to slam against the door. 

"Barton, open the door!" It was Heero! Quatre found himself sighing in relief and caught himself. He couldn't have relief until all of this was over. Trowa put his sword away and walked to the door, unlocking it and opening it to admit Heero entrance. Except, this time Heero wasn't alone. He had a young…boy?…by the arm. As soon as the door had been opened he shoved the other inside harshly and walked in closing and locking the door behind him. He glared towards the boy who'd fallen on the floor.

Quatre looked as well, but with kinder eyes. He was confused by all this. Who was this young male with his extremely long braid and black clothes? He looked towards Heero questioningly but the other just ignored him, as always. 

"Fix him now," Heero grounded out as he pulled the boy up by his arm again and shoved him towards Wufei.

"Sheesh, ok ok." The boy mumbled something under his breath as he rubbed his arm. He looked at Wufei then nodded his head a bit, his hand wrapping around the cross around his neck. "Ok, I can do this. This'll be a cinch." He closed his eyes holding his hand out towards Wufei and mumbling words under his breath.

The boy, Quatre found out, was quite beautiful. In fact, Quatre found himself staring at him in awe. A shiver went through his body as he sensed some of the other's power being let loose. It was the same power from the other night! Was this what he'd sensed? He shook his head quickly. It couldn't be!

"There," the other spoke rubbing a hand over his forehead. "He should be back to his normal ranting self again. At least from what I know of. Looks like a bit of my sleep spell didn't lift off him. Oh well, he's fine now. Aren't you?" He looked down coming eye to eye with a glare from the knight. 

Quatre gulped and quickly intervened so nothing would happen between the two males. "So who are you? What just happened?" He noticed a twitch of the eye from Heero and quickly regretted having asked the question, but Duo answered anyway.

"Name's Duo Maxwell. I was raised in the Maxwell Church, you know, the place they tried to destroy earlier." He walked over to Heero and stood by him patting his back. "But my bud here helped me stop them, so now we're being chased by the royal guards." Heero glared at Duo and reached up pulling the hand away from him.

"I am not your bud."

Duo shrugged his shoulders. "Whateeeever you say, bud. And about what just happened? I just woke your friend up. You see a few nights ago I well…tried to rob you but for some reason this guy," he gestured at Heero, "just didn't fall asleep like the rest of you. So he caught me, but I got away."

Quatre shook his head. These two wouldn't be getting along any time soon. Then again, they probably wouldn't see the young male again. And something deep down told him that was a flat out lie. "So you're a thief? And…..you do magic?" This brought Quatre's mind to more logical, important terms. Someone who could do magic? He began to wonder what type he did. There were so many now. And….wait….he was a thief?

"Yeah. But don't worry, I have my reasons for stealing, pal. Rich people don't need money, and poor people do need money. So what do I do? I steal from the rich and give to the poor. Kinda like that old fairytale some guy wrote, ne? Robin Hood or something."

The other four males exchanged a look with each other. Heero's was of growing annoyance and Trowa's of acceptance, while Quatre's showed companionship, and Wufei's confusion from being asleep still most of the day. Quatre cleared his throat then stood to his feet, walking until he was standing before the other boy. He smiled and held a hand out to Duo. "My name is Quatre Winner. We're here to figure out what's going on in the Sanc Kingdom." He tensed slightly feeling the glare directed towards the back of his head from Heero. He would probably pay for giving out information about their mission here so freely but wasn't it the people's rights to know? Besides, something told him he could trust this one, even if he was a thief. "We're under King Treize's order to find out what is going on in the Sanc Kingdom. There's a rumor going around that Prince Milliardo is trying to take over Queen Relena's role as sovereign."

"Ooooh, so you're here about that huh?" Duo shook the other's hand then turned around resting his hands behind his back some. "Well, if you're planning to get into the kingdom, you won't be able to just march right up to the door and demand entry." He yawned slightly stretching his hands above his head tiredly, an action Heero watched carefully. Yes, he thought he was pretty, but he knew how skillful that little body was…in battle that is. "Especially after that little Maxwell Church incident. Therefore," he turned around suddenly grinning like a fool as he pointed a finger at Quatre, just barely poking him in the nose causing the other to wiggle his nose a bit. "I've decided I'll be your guide and show you the way in."

"No," Heero said instantly. He stepped forward, his glare hard on the braided boy as he reached up grabbing the outstretched finger and squeezing it hard. "We don't take help from thieves," he grounded out. "And we don't take help from murderers." 

"Ow ow ow!" Duo pulled his finger free and sucked on it, making the pain go away. Quatre watched him worried. What was it between those two that made them go at it like that? Or really, what made Heero go at him like that? But then, Heero was like that to everyone. "Ok then. Go ahead and get yourselves killed for all I care," Duo said closing his eyes casually after a moment and walking off headed for the door. It was obvious his finger still hurt cause he kept moving it. "But when those guards all come rushing out and plunging arrows into your hearts, DON'T come running to me." He paused in front of the door. "Ok so you'd already be dead, actually. Not that I'm not used to death and all." Quatre stared at the other. Did he just see that? A dark look had crossed over the other boy's face. It had been an unreadable expression that Quatre just barely caught before it went away. What had that been?

"You're still going," Heero said suddenly, causing everyone to turn and look at him. The anger was still there on his face and Quatre started wondering if that was the only expression he was capable off. It appeared so. "You are still under arrest by law." Duty, honor. Honor, duty. That seemed to be the only thing Heero was about. Had he never experienced anything else in life besides wars?

"Whatever you say," Duo said rolling his eyes a bit and shrugging giving up. "So when are we leaving, oh great leader of ass." He spoke the words in sarcasm, not that anyone couldn't catch it. 

Heero just glared at him, containing his anger Quatre saw. His body was shaking with all the pent-up rage he wanted to use on the other. "We leave in the morning." He shot a look at Quatre who flinched from its, backing up to take refuge in Trowa's company. Trowa excepted it, smiling down at him making him blush. Why, was it so easy for him to do that? He shook his head quickly listening again to what Heero was saying. Now was not the time for a school boy crush. "Some people are afraid of nonexistent monsters in the dark."

"Ahhh," Duo said, a sound of understanding in his voice. "Yes, I forgot. You don't believe in magic." He smiled then, winking at the brooding boy across the room glaring at him heatedly. "And I guess you're right to not want to go out at night. There really are monsters out there. But," Duo lifted a finger in the air as if declaring something, "it would be better if you go at night. Two reasons." He smiled. "One, no one goes out of the house at night. Not even the guards. That'd make it easy to get around town, as insane as it is. And two," he held up another finger, "I can get us to the palace without attracting the monsters' attention." He looked over at Quatre then, giving him a small smile of reassurance before he returned his attention to Heero. "And three," he added suddenly, "if push comes to shove, and the large beasts do find us, I can kill them easily." That dark look again. There in a flash and gone. Quatre saw it for sure this time. What was the mystery behind this boy? He wasn't just a normal human. Who was he?

Heero stood there quietly, debating mentally with himself, Quatre figured. His expression wasn't as hard as normal, but his eyebrow twitched every so often. Whatever they did, they had to do it quickly before time ran out. As much as he didn't want to go out there at night, he trusted Duo's judgement. He didn't know why. Even with the little he knew about Duo, he could tell he was bad news. But yet…he wanted his help. Maybe he was just that kind of heart. And…maybe it was because he sensed the other had power. So who was he? 

A knock at the door caused them all to turn in alarm. Then a light feminine voice spoke, a sound of urgency that really put everyone on end. "Duo, you have to hurry! The church is burning!"

"What?!" Duo pulled the door open quickly, staring down at the young woman with short dark hair staring back up at him with wide eyes of fear. 

"T-those guys! From earlier! T-they came back and, and there were so many and…they….and everyone…." She collapsed to her knees on the floor, burying her head in her arms as she sobbed. "I couldn't stop them…so…I-I came here as quickly as I could."

Duo was silent, his jaw moving as he bit at it. He stood there, fist trembling at his sides as he stared straight ahead, straight at Howard who was standing behind Hilde's crumpled form. No, he was staring through him. Quatre stared towards them, horrified, a hand covering his opened mouth. How could this happen? He didn't know about the church but he could tell by Duo's reaction that it was very important to him. He turned hiding his face in the niche of Trowa's shoulder, holding back his own tears of sorrow. He took too long. He didn't help at all, to save any of the people. It was his job and…he just let…. This was horrible!

He took a chance, turning his head a bit to look up at Trowa with blurry eyes. His expression was still the same, but he could tell from his eyes that this did effect him. He glanced over at Wufei. The other was silent, but there was a frown to his lips. He wasn't happy about this either, no matter how confused he was over all of this. And then there was Heero. And…he didn't look like he cared at all. He just stared towards the braided thief, watching his every move cautiously, as if he'd run away. And…he did. 

Duo bolted from the room suddenly running away from the room in a rush. The other four looked at each other briefly before quickly following. They couldn't lose the other boy now, he was the only source they could rely on at the time. Heero was the first out the door, followed by the others. Quatre paused by the downed girl and patted her back sympathetically before he rushed after the others. They made it outside, into the darkness of night. Just as Duo had said, there wasn't a single sole in the streets. They were all too afraid of the monsters to even dare coming out. They continued to follow Duo around the corner and towards the church. The other was very fast, that at times they lost sight of him completely, as if he were a wraith. How could anyone move so fast? The only one who seemed to be able to keep up easily, was Heero. When everyone else seemed to be lost, he pointed the way. It must have to do with his soldier training. Or so Quatre thought. 

They stopped so suddenly that Quatre, who had been behind Trowa, ran right into his back. He rubbed his nose slightly then peered around the other to see what had happened. Then he froze as well. The church, the building, it had been completely burned down. There were bodies and body parts littering the ground as far as Quatre could see. The scent of blood was thick in the air, fresh. Looking down, Quatre saw a severed hand by his foot, staring at it with wide eyes, his face turning pale. He panicked, turning quickly. He couldn't take it. He hurled feeling any and all food he'd eaten that day be heaved up to splatter to the ground. He felt a reassured hand rubbing his back but he didn't care. He…didn't want to see anymore. How could anyone do such a thing? Were people so immoral? He couldn't heave up anymore, his stomach emptied. He wiped the back of a hand over his mouth, looking apologetically to Trowa, who still rubbed at his back. He closed his eyes against another wave of sickness. If he didn't look at it…but…he had to it…it was partially his fault for having not went with Heero's order to go to the palace, earlier. So he took comfort in hiding his face against Trowa's side, hoping the other didn't mind. Oh gods, how he wished this was a nightmare he could wake up from. 

Heero started to walk around, carefully trying not to step on the parts of the dead, as he looked for Duo. He found Duo eventually, among the slaughter. The boy was kneeled down by some female body. As Heero neared, coming to stand behind the braided boy, he saw the face of the body, the quiescent, dead eyes. It was the woman from earlier. The one he had saved before. He saved her to just for her to get killed anyway. That made him angry. But, for once, he pushed his anger away, staring down at the distressed, traumatized Duo. The other boy was trembling, his skin pale. He looked like he was ready to pass out. He was holding back tears, Heero noticed. Just imagination those odd purple orbs spilling tears of sadness made him wince. But instead, he stayed quiet. After a while, he started to turn to walk away, to give the other his private moment, but he began speaking before he could even get that far. 

"Sister Helen had been…like a mother to me," Duo said, his voice so monotone, it just sounded weird at the lack of cheerfulness, even though now it would be inappropriate. "Her and Father Maxwell, they both took me in when I was a kid. Me and Solo." He clenched his hand around the cross at his neck, staring down at the quiet form. "I swore to protect these people…this church and….and now…." He clenched his eyes shut, his shoulders hunched up in pain and guilt for having failed his duty. Heero was quiet. He didn't know how else to deal with this, he wasn't good with dealing with people's emotions, especially sad ones. But for some reason, he wanted to hug the boy to him, to comfort him. Instead, he settled with resting a reassuring hand on the other's shoulder.

As if that broke the barrier completely, Duo hopped up, turning quickly and leaning into Heero, hugging the other tightly as he rested his face against his chest, crying now. Heero blinked in surprise, shocked that this boy that had been his rival not even that long ago, was now looking to him for support. Heero body froze, hands rested at his side before he finally, slowly, lifted them hugging the other back lightly. He didn't want to admit it, but it felt good for the other to be in his arms. But…he knew he'd regret it later. For now, he just held the other, letting him cry on him. 

Suddenly, Duo's body tensed against him, the boy pulling away, scrubbing at his eyes quickly as he looked off into the darkness. His body was set into alert, as he reached for the dagger that wasn't there. It only took a second for Heero to sense it too. Something….some….things……were coming. Duo stared towards the darkness, his expression blank now, as if not moments before he hadn't been broken and torn. He pushed Heero back behind him, his hand still gripping his cross. "You have to get out of here," he said. He didn't turn to look at Heero, but he did reach back pushing the other again. "Get out off here! Take them too!" He turned briefly, looking towards Quatre and the others, then glared towards Heero pushing him again. "Go! Find shelter! Don't argue with me on this! I know what I'm doing!"

The creatures were just coming into the circle. Heero caught the sight of a snout, and froze staring. What the hell? What was that? He was curious. And, he did not want to leave the elf alone. When he got pushed again, he was shaken out of his thoughts. Quickly he turned around, yelling out towards Wufei and Trowa to take Quatre to a safe place and to stay hidden. The other two nodded quickly. Trowa turned picking the petite up, cradling him gentle as he looked to Wufei to lead. The other darted off running away from the square. If Heero said they should do something, it was best to do it. Though, Wufei wasn't good with following orders, he knew that going against anything at this point would be very stupid.

Heero turned around again, coming face to face with a glaring Duo. "I told you to leave! You can't deal with these things, they'll kill you!"

Heero glared back, pulling his sword from his side stubbornly as he braced himself, legs spread, prepared to take on these dark beast. "Just watch me." He took off running towards the creatures, seeing their features more as he neared them. So many different types! He saw some that looked like giant boars. Grease snouts dripped wet onto the ground, burning into it. They walked like humans, dressed like them, but in no way were they human at all. They drooled at the mouth, sniffing at the air hungrily, probably smelling the blood. Another of the beast was bird type, squawking as it flapped its wings slightly, sharp talons digging into the ground with each step they took. There was also bull types. Horns glittered in the air, shining from the moonlight bouncing off of them. He shook his head, heading for one of the pig like beast, prepared to take it out. He lifted his sword up above his head, ignoring the frantic yelling of the boy behind him. He'd show him he could take care of himself. But as he brought down his sword, he was repelled back harshly by the hard skin. He shook his head a bit looking up at the beast, staring. He didn't even make a dent! He'd dug himself in too deeply this time. He glared up at the dark creature, hacking at it again, still not getting any results. The creature looked down at him, a drop of drool falling off a fang, and hitting into Heero's arm causing him to yell out as he stepped back, feeling the burning sensation eating through his arm.

"Heero!" Duo yelled out. He could feel his anger again. He would NOT lose another person to these creatures! And…he would kill the men who burned his home and killed his family. "Damn it, Heero, get away from them!" The other was still so stubborn. Even with his hurt arm, he tried to kill the beast. For his efforts, he got slapped hard by the creature, and was sent flying, hitting into a wall on the far side of the street. Duo shook his head biting at his lips. Should he…use it? He was afraid to. He'd never done it but once, and the results still…he couldn't lose control. If he did then Heero would…. 

He sighed and closed his eyes calming himself. He had to do it, if he didn't…then Heero would die anyway. If only the boy had listened to him! Why did he have to be so stubborn?! He pulled the cross from his neck, holding it tightly in his hand, so tightly it could feel it digging into his skin, a thin trail of blood sliding free to hit the ground. He had to hurry. He opened his eyes slightly, seeing the beast stop their advances towards Heero as they sniffed the air smelling the new scent of blood. Good. Duo smirked slightly, ruefully. For such strong creatures, they sure were stupid. But it distracted them from Heero and that's what he wanted. He winced slightly, pushing the cross even more into his hand, embedding it in. He didn't have to do this to call on him. But the blood was what the creatures wanted. So he was just fulfilling a request. He took his bloodied hand and brushes it against his other, smearing it. 

His eyes started to change as bit with each added actions. He was losing himself already. Duo lifted his hands smearing the blood to his cheeks, to his forehead. He smeared it on his neck, even went so far as to lift his shirt, smearing some on his tummy. The creatures were starting to move again, towards him now. He felt a small wave of dizziness but ignored it, glaring at them still as he continued to bleed on the ground. _Yeah that's right, _he thought_, keep coming. Come get me. You know you want to. _He licked at his lips slightly, making a face a bit at the taste of his blood there. He'd forgotten. He started to back away a bit, glancing towards Heero worriedly. He hadn't moved yet. Duo couldn't worry about that now though. If he wasn't close to him, maybe it wouldn't happen. Maybe Shinigami wouldn't take him too. He backed himself up against a wall of a building, the wall where his dagger happened to be. He blinked as he caught sight of it then grinned like a little fool, pulling it free to put it away at his side. He missed his dagger, it was his favorite one after all. 

When at last he felt the creatures were close enough, he opened his mind up, closing his eyes at the sensation being washed over him. He could never get enough of it, for some reason. Having Shinigami come into him, becoming one with Shinigami, becoming Shinigami. All feeling left him, a blankness all he had. His eyes were dark, almost black now with clouded nothingness. His face was relaxed, expression nothing more than a solemn expression. His hands rested at his sides as he stared towards the beast. He wasn't Duo Maxwell anymore. He was the one, the feared, Shinigami. From what people said, his touch alone could kill. The scary part about that was, it was true. He stepped close, raising his hand to one of the beast, staring death's eye at him. He would take this one. 

He touched the creature lightly on the snout, watching the eyes deaden as it just collapsed to the ground. His first victim. So many had died for him tonight. He stared up at the rest of them. Did he want to see a bloody death? Or did he just want to watch them fall as helpless prey to him. He decided on the latter. No, the ones that would die painfully would be the ones that destroyed the church. He would have fun with those. These creatures were not important enough for his special attention. He looked at the wave of creatures before him. How many was that? Twenty? Thirty? He didn't care. It would only take one hand, one small move to destroy them. As they started to race towards him, he lifted his other hand, dropping the one that he killed the snout like creature with to his side. He liked to switch up a lot. He smiled, a death's smile toward the beast, as he waved his hand, gliding it to the side in front of him. At the simple action, the creatures collapsed mid run, one sliding along the ground from running so fast, and slammed into the wall beside him. Shinigami just lowered his hand, the slightest of a bored expression on his face. Yet he had killed.

His attention fell on another suddenly. A boy sitting against the wall. He looked in pain, but he was alive. And that's why he was drawn to him. He started over towards him, a gliding step, almost as if he were floating. Actually…he was kind of hovering off the ground. When he got to the boy, he kneeled down in front of him, reaching out a hand to grab the other's chin, turning the boy's head to the side. This boy was strong, and very pretty as well. Shinigami wanted this one for his own. He tried reaching into the boy's soul to steal his breath away, to steal him away from the world of the living, but he was met with resistance. He frowned a bit, pushing deeper, toying with the barrier he felt. Interesting. Whatever the boy was, he had the power to repel even death's hand. The boy's eyes popped up, staring at him, and Shinigami held his breath, drawing his hand back slightly. Such perfect blue eyes. Yes, he would have this one from Duo as well. But for now, he would let his little toy have his fun with him, and only until he figured out how to break the barrier. 

Heero stared up at Duo, his arm burning with his pain, his back hurting from being slammed into the wall. He was lucky he didn't break anything. But, the dark look in Duo's eyes as he watched him, confused him. The most he could do was stare back, sensing something wrong with this. He shook his head a bit, blinking his eyes. It was a quick action, but in that time, Duo had changed. He had his hands rested on Heero's shoulders, shaking him, and talking to him, a worried look in his eyes. 

"Heero! Say something! I know you can hear me! I saw you blink!" Heero just looked up at him, then he looked around searching out the monsters. He found them…all of them…dead. He couldn't believe it. He just stared towards them, shock bouncing around in his brain. Did the elf do all of that…alone? He had talked about other the time he'd said he could take care of himself, but now he could see it was true. He also knew that he was changing his perspective on the world of magic. Maybe it was real. Though Duo an elf…no…no he wasn't ready for that yet. 

"What the hell just happened?" he asked staring back towards Duo as he started to push himself to his feet.

"Whoa, don't strain yourself," Duo said supporting him by his uninjured arm. Heero pulled his arm away stubbornly, then almost regretted it when he saw the hurt look in Duo's eyes. "Just trying to help," Duo muttered quietly. "We should find your friends. I'm sure they're ok." Heero noticed he was avoiding the question he'd asked. He wouldn't pester him about it though, he'd wait until later. Right now, Duo probably wasn't in the best of minds. The other turned and started off. "It's too late to go to the palace now. We'll have to wait until tomorrow night. It's almost daylight. And we're not going to want to be out here when they find all of this." He stopped though, as he paused at Sister Helen's body. Reaching down, he rested her arms on her tummy, then closed her eyes, leaning down to brush a light kiss against her forehead. "Rest in peace, Sister Helen," he said quietly before he stood again. "I swear I'll get them for this." His hand shook at his side before he turned, Heero coming up to him. The other nodded slightly, holding his hurt arm and stumbling a bit, trying to hide his pain. They started back to the tavern together, Duo supporting Heero's wait, glad the other didn't complain, though his mind was somewhere else at the time. It was decided. They would leave tomorrow night instead, to go to the palace. And then, he would kill those bastards for what they did to the Maxwell Church.

TBC…

Alright!! I finally finished it! ^^ I love this story. I hate the middle it got kinda blah. But I love the battle minus Heero getting punched into a wall and all. *blinks* And ok, it was a little mushy, But who can't live without a little mush. ^^ Now to go kill those bandit people thingies. And and Must work on the rest of Vampire Conspiracy first. It's the last chapter before the sequel! ^^ Yeah! 


	6. Spellcaster 6

Pairings: the obvious ones *blinks* 

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!! 

Author's comments: Heh ^ ^; *rubs behind his head sheepishly* Sorry I was a lazy bastard and took forever. I hope this will make up for it. I had to restart it cause it sucked the first time. ^^; 

Spellcaster 6

"What the hell was that back there?" Heero asked again as they walked. He had tried in earnest to keep quiet about it and to wait, but his eyes still landed on the other suspiciously. What was he hiding? What was it that could have killed all those fierce creatures so easily as that? Something about this guy wasn't right. He sensed it as well as saw it, saw it in his eyes that time when he looked down on him. Duo wanted him dead. Heero wouldn't lose his guard around this one. He shook his head quickly as those dark eyes of the elf tried to consume him, and growled. "Answer me, thief!"

Duo stopped abruptly at that, turning angry wet eyes on the soldier. "Stop calling me that! Just be thankful you're even alive at all! Those…those monsters could have sliced you in two or worse!"

"I have a right to know what the hell happened back at that church, thief." The glare in Heero's eyes was strong enough to match the other's determination. 

"You want to know what happened so bad?!" Duo said moving away from him putting the other off balance a moment. "You want to know so bad that you feel you have to provoke me to get an answer?!" Duo clenched a fist at his side then turned his back on the other, his braid whipping around like a snake before settling against his shaking body. 

"Yes," was all Heero said to all of that as he hobbled backwards slightly to lean against a wall of the building there. 

"Fine…fine I'll tell you." Duo turned around then sighed slightly brushing his bangs out of his eyes in frustration. "I'm not going to like this but you deserve to know. You just have to promise me you won't go blabbing this around. People don't take too lightly to these things." He saw Heero nod then chuckled slightly to himself darkly, walking over to sit down as well against the wall. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. But I guess my gut instinct's telling me to trust you, ya know?" He leaned back against the wall, resting his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes. "How do I even start?"

Heero glanced over, finding that his eyes were lingering on the other's features before he stomped out that train of thought and turned his eyes instead to the sky that was seen peeking just slightly between the two rooftops. "Are you sure no one will hear, considering where we are?" 

"Yeah, don't worry about that. I put a spell up so that whatever we say sounds like nothing more than rambling." Duo opened his eyes then reached into his shirt, pulling free the cross and letting it dangle back and forth before his eyes. "Well, every problem I've ever had, I can honestly say started with this little thing right here." He smiled slightly as the cross started tugging against his hand and pointing out towards him simpler to a magnet to metal. "It's been a part of the elfin race since well…forever that I can remember." He loosened his grip slightly letting the cross fly from his hand to land flatly against his chest. "Actually it was a part of the royal elfin family, a sort of keepsake, you know? But they never really wore it. Hell, everyone feared it." He pulled the cross off his chest looking down and rubbing his fingers over the smooth silver. "Considering what it can do and all." 

Heero frowned slightly looking towards the foreboding cross. Was that what he was sensing on his first encounter with the elf? But he held the cross too, and then he didn't feel a thing. So how could he tell if the other was lying? "So what are you doing with it? Are you a part of the royal family?"

"Heck no!" Duo exclaimed looking towards Heero with astonished eyes. "Could you really see me as one of those snobby rich people?!" 

A sudden image popped into Heero's head, one with Duo letting his long hair fall free and walking with his elegant grace across the castle floor. And then, wasn't long hair a sign of royalty? But the image was gone quickly and he was left with the boy beside him, of the thief who tried to take the lives of his comrades not all that long ago. "No, you're still a thief."

"Heh. Glad you thank so highly of me," Duo said. "Anyway, no, I wasn't in the royal family but my best friend was. Don't ask how we met each other, it's a long story." He smiled sadly putting the cross on and tucking it under his shirt for safe keeping. "But you see, while you were in your homeland, probably relaxing or whatever you do, our people were being destroyed. So many demon creatures came in, and we were powerless to stop them. Our magic didn't work against them, which I didn't understand." Duo paused a second in thought. "Actually I still don't know why. But, Solo and I escaped while we could, taking the cross with us, into the land of humans. While in this land, bad fortune befell and Solo was lost. Before he died he gave me to cross and told me it was my duty to take care of it. He told me about the darkness that was held inside, told me to heed it. Course I was hardheaded and didn't listen." Duo laughed darkly holding his hands over his chest, right where the cross was. "Seems all the people closest to me die. Luckily, I won't have that problem with you."

__

Where there once was a solo, now there is a Duo. So…there was a reason to what he said after all. "Tell me about the dark power."

"You're kind of the impatient one, aren't cha?" Duo said giving him a look. "Well the cross holds a dark power. So naturally in wrong hands it's gonna have a bad effect, ya know?" Duo pulled his knees up to his chest, running a finger against the ground at his side. "Turns out death lives inside the cross. I learned that the hard way. Once the cross is used by the user, it starts to become a part of them. The more it is called, the more the cross is with them, the more the two become one and the same. Eventually, the cross won't even be needed to summon death's hand. And after that, the cross will be useless completely for death will live within the person."

Duo hid his face in his hands, closing his eyes. "Even now I can still feel this sense, this urge to kill. For no reason at all, I'll just want to kill. And at times, I don't think I'm myself at all. It's kinda hard to explain but it's like living a double life. I can become Shinigami then I can become myself again. As Shinigami I see through his eyes but I can't do anything, and yet I am him and I am killing." Duo looked over at Heero helplessly. "Right now I have the upper hand in control of my body. When Shinigami is summoned I have to fight for the control again. But now it's getting harder and harder to fight." He chuckled closing his eyes and brushed his hand over his forehead like he was wiping away sweat. "I'm sure you don't believe a word I'm telling you. You still believe I'm not an elf, after all."

"You're right. I don't believe you are an elf." Heero pushed up from the wall, standing to his feet with a wince. His body was still sore from the beating it got, but he did his best not to show his pain as he looked down at the sad eyes staring up at him. "And at the same time I don't believe you aren't one either." Duo's eyes widened in shock as he was pushing to his feet as well. He opened his mouth, prepared to say something further when another voice broke in.

"Heero, we have a problem." Quatre appeared behind the cobalt-eyed male panting out of breath, his two current guardians behind him as well, looking back behind them fearing pursuit. "There are soldiers, at the inn. T-They said they're going to search the city. They're blaming us for the deaths of all those people! They said that if we hadn't come here, they would still be alive."

"Damn," Duo said folding his arms over his chest and glancing behind him. "If that's the case, we'll have to go to the palace. I just hope you're right about this queen of yours."

"Over here!" The spoken words came from not to far away, and Heero cussed under his breath turning his eyes to Duo. 

"Lead us out of here." Duo nodded and turned running off, the rest of the group following behind him. 

"Looks like another chase sequence is about to commence, huh?" Duo said as they ran through the mostly empty city. "Ah, shit!" Duo skidded to a stop at the sight of an army barricade up ahead then turned running down an alleyway. "De javu much?" He muttered under his breath. "We're going to have to take the long way around." He looked over his shoulder smiling at Heero. "Bet you wish you hadn't gotten yourself involved with me now, don't you?" 

"Hn." They came out of the other side of the alleyway, Duo not relenting in his rush to the castle. 

"We're gonna do better if we're in the forest. Most of the guards refuse to go in there, no matter what." He turned them in the direction of the forest, hearing pursuit behind them. "Whoops, looks like they found us again. Just remember to keep quiet when we get to the forest."

Quatre frowned at the words, still remembering their encounter from before with the creatures. He'd been order then to go, to hide. But…it was those same creatures, the same ones from when…. "Why haven't they destroyed this city yet?" he asked quietly. Trowa looked over at him worriedly, resting a calming hand on his shoulder. Wufei just snorted slightly looking away. Secretly though, he was wondering the same. 

"I don't think this is really the best time to be asking these questions. But to tell the truth, I don't know why either. There," He pointed up ahead towards the forest. "We'll cut through those trees. Be sure to stay close, don't get lost in the dark, and no matter what don't speak a word." One by one they went through the trees, Duo eventually slowing them to a walk as they followed each other in a single filed line, Duo being in the front. Heero came second followed by Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa , who was keeping an eye on both Quatre and the darkness. The tension in the small group had grown once sight of the city and all light was lost. They ended up having to fall to holding hands, or in Heero and Wufei's case, a part of the shirt to keep track and not lose each other. They tried walking as quietly as they could, all sound seemingly lost in the darkness. There were no birds, no crickets, no frogs, nothing. It sent an eerie chill through Quatre's body causing him to shiver slightly. 

Heero had the same feeling himself, finding his eyes looking more frantically around in search for something out of place. It was too late now to even consider turning back. He had to follow the elf through to the palace. He couldn't even see the elf for the darkness. While they walked, he thought back to the conversation they had back in the city. If what he'd said was true, then he could turn on them at any time. He winced mentally at the pain he was feeling in his side. Something told him a few ribs were problem broken, and who knew what else. He couldn't find comfort, every movement he made becoming harder, more painful. Maybe it was pushing into his internal organs. And maybe all that running was finally coming through. He could ignore the pain, though, at least for now. It wasn't like this was his first broken rib. He was Heero Yuy after all, one of the best soldiers under King Treize's rule. 

Duo stopped suddenly then jumped as he felt Heero's head nestled into his back. He tensed slightly but didn't say a word, thinking it wasn't safe enough yet. He wanted to wait until they were inside before they spoke. Duo groped around a bit, brushing his hand over the stone walls before him, searching for the button. He found it, the loose rock pushing away under his lithe fingers, the door opening in front of him. With a sigh or relief he led the way inside, feeling the other lift his head away slowly. He stopped once Trowa was inside, the door closing on its own as he turned around to face them. Reaching over to the side, Duo picked up the torch there, mumbling a small spell under his breath then smiling when the torch burst to life, glowing brightly and causing everyone to look away from the suddenly blinding light. 

"Ok, it's safe to talk now," Duo said giving them a thumbs up. 

"And exactly where are we?" Wufei asked looking past him down the darkened hall.   
"It's one of those secret passage ways you hear so much about. We're right under the castle." Duo turned around again, pointing the hand with the torch out towards the dark hall. "If we keep going that way, we'll make it to the Queen's chambers in no time, and with no stupid monsters or guards chasing us, we can just take our sweet little ti– eh…Heero?" He frowned slightly looking at the other boy who was holding a hand to his side, his head bent as he panted, catching at his breath. "Heero? Don't tell me that little walk wore you out." Duo stepped closer worriedly. His eyes widened as the light from the torch revealed the trail of blood leading from Heero's side on down to the ground. "Damn," he cussed. It wasn't just a little bit of blood either. With a slight movement of the light, he could see it leading outside past the hidden door. It was a wonder the giant beast didn't get a whiff of it and come running. "Wufei, hold this will ya?" He handed the torch over to the other who looked ready to question him. "I don't think we have any time for that right now. Heero's hurt." 

"What's wrong with him?" Quatre asked, a slight trembling to his voice.

"I don't know yet," Duo said kneeling down in front of Heero and looking up at his face. The other's features were twisted up in pain, his eyes clenched shut as he bit his lips. His chest was moving, trying to keep up with its breathing as he held his side. Duo stood back up to his feet, moving closer to the other has he started to pick him up. 

"Don't," Heero grounded out between the pain. He was beginning to feel slightly nauseous.

"Heero, if we don't move you, you'll bleed all over the Queen's floor." Though he was half attempting a joke, Duo bit his lips staring at the other worriedly. "Just let me get you there, then you can toss me into the cell all you want."

Through the pain, Heero opened his eyes glaring towards Duo. "Wufei, give him the torch back." Wufei blinked then held the torch out towards Duo, who stared towards it, eyes shaking slightly with frustration before he bit his cheek and grabbed it. Heero nodded slightly, grabbing onto Wufei's shoulder for support. "Now, lead the way, elf." Duo nodded in return, pausing hesitantly before turning and starting down the hallway. Heero leaned against Wufei for support, moving slightly slower as they started walking again, his stubborn form stumbling slightly. 

Trowa shook his head slightly, watching from the back. What good would a group be without a leader? Did their leader even know that? He looked at Quatre, seeing the sunken shoulders, and placed a hand on his shoulder squeezing it slightly and giving him a slight smile. "It's going to be ok, Quatre. He may be stubborn, but he will survive this." 

Quatre looked up towards him then smiled a bit before he turned and walked off after the rest. Still behind, Trowa turned around looking at the trail of blood then at the door. He had the feeling that this journey wasn't even close to it's end, or to the bad luck that would befall them. As the light started moving away down the hall, Trowa ran after to catch up, silently hoping they could all survive this mission.

TBC…

Heh ^^; sorry that took so long. *bows* I'd like to think all my brave reviews for sticking around so long and even more brave reviews for cussing me out for taking so long. ^^; Sorry I'm a lazy bastard I'll try to do better. 


	7. Spellcaster 7

Pairings: the obvious ones *blinks* 

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!! 

Author's comments: My my ^^; It appears I'm still lazy, ne? Um If there are any typos or bad grammer or um grammar I apologize as I do not have a beta reader. ^^; I'm still kinda picky on just letting any random person do it and well You'll just have to live with a little bad spellin. That and it took me three months to post this? *blinks* Sorry Sorry 

Spellcaster 7

Why the hell was this guy so stubborn?! Duo bit at his inner cheek again, wishing he could just slap some sense into the guy. It wasn't like they weren't safe now. They'd been running, having been chased after by guards through the city not all that long after their encounter with the church destruction, the beasts and Shinigami's appearance. Walking through the darkened forest at night, he'd told them all not to speak a word no matter what. However, he hadn't known how badly Heero had been injured. With all that running and the rush to escape, no one had paid attention, too busy worrying about getting out. Even worse, Heero would have let them continue until he had collapsed had Duo not turned around and by chance saw the trail of blood. Far worse than that, those monsters outside of the castle could have scented the blood, came, and torn them to shreds at any moment without them knowing. Duo wondered slightly over that then shook his head quickly. No time for that now.

With a quick glance over his shoulder, he decided to see how Heero was doing. Heero seemed even worse for wear, his face seeming pale even without the torchlight to show it. He honestly refused to let anyone carry him. Blood had been soaked completely into one side of his shirt, the floor still slick with it. He had his head rested on Wufei's shoulder, his eyes clenched shut as his breath came out with labored pants, his body dragging itself. Duo had even had to start moving even slower than their original pace, Heero's movements becoming sluggish. At times he was sure the other passed out. 

Looking at Wufei's face, he could tell he didn't like any of this either. Some of the blood was starting to soak into his shirt as well, though it wasn't that that seemed to have him upset. He didn't like that their leader was doing so badly. But at the same time he respected his integrity and will to go on. Wufei looked up as he saw Duo looking at him and shook his head a bit. Duo let an inaudible sigh slip past his lips before his set himself up with determination and turned stopping the party from moving. The rest of them stopped, Trowa and Quatre looking confused, Wufei as well, but Duo ignored them. His eyes were trained on Heero. 

As if slowing coming to realization, Heero lazily lifted his head looking up towards the elf, trying to set his eyes into a glare that wouldn't come. "Why'd…you stop?"

Duo shook his head giving his own glare that was far stronger than Heero's at the moment. "Look. You're not suited to be walking on your own. If anything it's just making things worse. Now I tried to let you have your own way like the tyrant that you are, but this has to stop. We need to get you some help as soon as possible and letting you walk there isn't gonna happen, not if I'm leading it won't." He looked over at Wufei, holding the torch out to him and Wufei hesitantly took it, his eyes drawing up in question. Duo just gave him a look before he walked over taking his place beside Heero. He placed Heero's arm around his neck, like he was going to help him, then bent and placed his other arm under his legs starting to lift him up. Heero made a sound of protest but Duo would have none of it. "Shut up and sit still," Duo said picking him up. "I know it's not macho being carried around by someone but right now you have no choice." 

Heero just stared up at him, trying for a glare. Once Duo had him situated right in his arms, he looked over towards Wufei before starting off, the other walking beside him. "It shouldn't be much further. If this queen is like you say, then we'll have no problems getting Heero some help. However if not…." He left the words unsaid, continuing to walk, his eyes staring down the dark corridor. He'd been in this thing too long. It felt like the dirty stone walls were trying to close in on him. The darkness ahead did nothing to help. He was either being squashed or he was being left wide open. He couldn't decide. He looked down briefly noting that Heero had finally relaxed, at least best he could, his head nestled into his shoulder and his eyes closed. The feeling of that closeness, that warmth against him made him feel well…weird. It was an odd feeling that he wasn't used to, not since Solo died. So why would he feel that around this annoying obnoxiously stubborn human who couldn't even stand his hide? Ah, some things were probably best left unanswered. 

Heero opened his eyes, looking around him. It was dark, not just nighttime dark but completely and totally dark. There were no trees, no stars, no ground even. If Heero looked down between he feet he even saw darkness there. Strange though that he could wave his hands in front of himself and see it without there even being any light. The effect of it creeped him out. He rested his hands at his sides then took a deep breath taking his first step forward. His foot landed down on a flat surface, though unseen in the darkness. Was this some kind of illusion? He dared himself and took another step, the same thing happening. How odd. There was no floor and yet he wasn't falling. Or was he really falling and he didn't know it? No, he would have felt the wind of it. He took about two more steps before he stopped. For one thing he didn't know how far he could go before something happened. Second, he didn't know _anything_. He didn't know what direction lead where if anywhere at all. He didn't know if he was floating or on a solid place or was he just walking on air. He really just didn't know what was going on at all. 

He lifted his arm looking at the side of his shirt, to where the blood should be. There was no blood. There was no pain either. Strangely there was nothing, nothing at all. He felt relaxed, and at the same time he felt curious and anxious. He was wrapped in a warmth, something he couldn't find the source to. Suddenly there was a light traveling towards him, no wait two lights. They were small and caused him to squint. At some point they stopped moving and he found himself walking, not sure why, towards the lights. He was shortening the distance between them, a hand reaching out suddenly as he ran. He didn't know why he was running, just that he had to get there before it was too late. He had to reach it, he knew, because it was something of importance. To him…and…. To him…_and_? And….

He could see the two lights, or really two flames floating in the air supported by nothing and yet seeming to be the supports themselves. They burned strong and bright, licking at the air defiantly, refusing to be blown out. Heero didn't care though as he rushed by them, feeling them licking at his skin yet giving off no heat, not burning him or anything. There was nothing at all in the passing. Maybe he was too fast. But it didn't stop him from running, his hand held out in front of him searching, his eyes widening slightly as he saw the figure appear before him, the back turned to him, a braid sitting still against a back. Heero felt his mouth moving, speaking a word, more like a name. He saw the braid moving, shifting and whipping around as the figured started to turn, the whole action seeming to be far too slow to be real.

As the figure turned looking over his shoulder, Heero caught a glimpse of indigo eyes staring at him in surprise and confusion. Heero felt a smile lift to his face, unbidden to him, as he reached out his hand reaching for the other's almost grabbing it before a sudden change happened. Even without seeing it, Heero heard the poof of the fires as they went out. Like a chain effect, things started to happen. The figure's eyes changed, darkening, becoming more evil. Heero found himself staring into death's eye, knowing that he was too late, time had run out. The figure smirked at him then turned all the way and lifted a hand putting it to Heero's chest and pushing. Heero felt himself falling backwards. His body didn't come into contact with the floor that should have been there, instead he just kept falling, his hair flying up past his eyes as he stared up at the figure in shock, seeing that dark smirk and those darker eyes growing smaller and fading away. He closed his eyes then knowing he had failed.

Heero opened his eyes with a start, pushing himself up quickly before he winced grabbing at his side. The pain was back. He could feel a difference in the texture and looked down seeing bandages around his chest and stomach. His shirt was missing, probably gone now. Had he been dreaming then? He looked around the room. The room was lighter, as the shine from the window showed. It was morning now. He was apparently in a room, someone's room, a female's room. He could tell by the personal things around the room. There was a small make-up dresser in the corner. The bed itself was pretty big taking over the center of the room. If he turned his head he could see a regular dresser against the far corner. Looking straight ahead he saw a picture of a young woman staring down at him, blue eyes staring at him as if daring him to speak. Which he probably wouldn't do since his throat felt pretty dry. The floor was covered in a lush red carpet, the bed he laid in covered in pink spreads and sheets. Even the wall seemed to be colored pink. Yep, definitely a girl's room. Even had he not seen the pink dress laying over the back of a chair, prepared to be worn. 

He suddenly focused his eyes on the bed, seeing the figure there. It was Duo. He could tell by the braid laying along the carpeted floor. The other wasn't on the bed itself. His arms were reclining on the side of the bed, his head resting on them. He was kneeling, probably having stayed and watched after Heero but he fell asleep. Heero found himself smiling slightly but had to push it away. He was still confused by that dream. He was sure he'd seen Duo in it, had even spoken his name, but at the end…what had happened? He was confused, not to mention hungry, thirsty, and his side still hurt. He tried recalling last night, when they had been in the corridor, or had it been last night? He remembered being carried and being lulled by the warmed of Duo's body, by the gentle rocking as he carried him. Maybe that was why he'd dreamt of him. Yeah, that could be the only reason for it. Quietly, he pushed the sheets off of himself, starting to get up from the other side.

Duo stirred at the moment, waking up to see Heero sitting on the side of the bed, starting to stand. Heero just stared back at him, not saying a word. He really didn't know what to say. What could he say? Good morning Duo, thank you for carrying me. By the way, I had a dream of you trying to kill me. Heh. No way. Instead he looked away and continued standing, just barely wincing from his side. He looked around searching for his shirt, hoping that Duo wouldn't say anything. Fat Chance.

"So, are you feeling better?" Duo said shifting slightly from his place on the floor. 

Heero glanced over at him then looked away clearing his throat. "I could use a drink." Honestly, his mouth was like cotton. 

Duo laughed slightly pushing himself up to his feet. "Yeah, you've been out about two days now. I'd think you would want something to drink, and maybe to eat too."

Two days?! Heero shook his head, not finding his shirt then instead gave up on it looking finally at Duo. He noted Duo's features. His eyes were puffy from lack of sleep. His hair wasn't in its nice neat braid down his back. The clothes he wore were wrinkled and messy, but clean. In fact they looked like they had just been picked at random for him to wear, the pants slightly too big for him and starting to fall off his hips, or would if he hadn't tied them up.

Duo lifted a brow staring towards him. "Are you done yet?" 

Heero glared at him, then looked towards the door. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, they're with the queen. I told them I'd keep an eye on you and make sure you didn't go jumping out any windows or something." Heero snorted at that. He only jumped out of windows if he didn't have a chance of survival and only if that was the only way out. "Where's my shirt?" 

"Ah, well since you've been laying there for the past two days, they figured you would probably want a bathe when you woke up." Duo tilted his head a bit, folding his arms over his chest. "But that's not the point. What I want to know is how you are feeling. You were looking pretty badly the other day, I was afraid you wouldn't make it."

"I'm fine." He found himself looking at Duo's eyes and looked away with a shiver. Was that dream still effecting him so much?

Duo snorted this time, giving him a glare as he tapped his foot, giving him the best "like hell" look. "Ok. But next time you try to pull that "I'm fine" stunt on me I'm slapping you. There's really nothing wrong with asking people for help you know. You should stop trying to act so macho all the time and just consider that maybe just _maybe_ you do have some friends willing to help you out in a time of crisis."

Heero just glared at him in return, narrowing his eyes. "I don't need friends." Yeah, who needs friends. Then you're always stuck watching them and helping them with every stupid little detail.

Duo started to open his mouth when the door opened. They both looked over, Trowa stepping into the room, carrying a tray with him, before he stopped at the door. "So he's awake." 

Duo sniffed. "And as stubborn as ever." 

Trowa gave a small smile as he kicked the door closed behind him then walked over setting the tray down. "Quatre will be happy to know he's ok then." He looked over at Duo. "I brought you breakfast. I didn't think Heero would be awake yet so I only brought one bowl." 

"What about you?" Duo asked him, looking over at him.

"I've had my breakfast already. If you don't mind I'll go get another bowl for Heero." He turned to leave, starting to walk towards the door. 

"Wait." Trowa stopped, his hand right on the doorknob as Heero spoke. "Where's Quatre?" 

Trowa looked over his shoulder at him and said, "he's out with Queen Relena, talking about what's happened. So far we've gained little information from her." 

"What about Wufei?" 

"He's out guarding him. We took into consideration of what you would probably do in our situation." Heero nodded slightly, feeling a sort of relief. This meant Quatre wasn't out on his own alone with the Queen. They still couldn't take their chances in trusting her yet. He would have sent Trowa with them both too had he had the choice. However he didn't know he'd be stuck here in bed with an elf watching over him. And then that itself is probably why Trowa stayed behind. He was certain it was probably killing the other to be away with his infatuation. But it couldn't be helped. 

"You may go." Trowa nodded then opened the door, slipping out and closing it behind him with a click. That left Heero alone with Duo again. He found himself once again watching the other suspiciously, expecting to be attacked or something now. Instead Duo just yawned then turned and walked over to the bed, flopping down on it, being careful not to make the soup spill. 

Duo looked up at him then smiled patting the bed. "Why don't you come sit down and grab a bite. I know it's not really the best of a morning meal but it's what we have for now." There were a few other things on the tray as well, like bread that 'd been freshly cut, and some cubes of cheese. Hesitantly Heero walked over then looked down at Duo grinning up at him before he sat as well. As soon as he was down Duo broke off a piece of bread, holding it to his lips.

Heero turned his face away from it. "Trowa said he was bringing another tray." 

Duo just grinned impishly before he shoved it into his mouth. "Then we'll get to share it twice. So eat. Besides, you need this more than I do." Heero chewed on the food, agreeing finally that he probably did need this. He hadn't ate for two days, his body was probably eating off itself or something. His stomach growled and he reached down wrapping one of the pieces of bread around a cube of cheese before taking a bite out of it. It wasn't the best of meals but it wasn't bad either. Duo just sat there, smiling as he watched him eat. He knew Duo was probably feeling smug but he didn't care. He knew it wouldn't last long. For now, part one of his objective was complete. He'd made sure that Quatre had made it to the castle safely. Now all he had to do was make sure he made it out of here alive. As he sat there draining down the soup and eating the bread and cheese, he glanced over at Duo and almost choked on the soup as he saw the dark look appear in his eyes, only briefly before it disappeared. Had he seen that? Was he just seeing things again? In that slight instances he felt a bit of the magic, felt his body tingle. It reminded him of his first encounter with the elf. Was this something to do with that dark magic? No magic wasn't real, right? But yet he'd found himself believing it more and more lately.

The door to the room opened again and Trowa stepped inside again with another tray, depositing it in front of Duo. "Looks like he was really hungry." 

"Well I'm sure you'd be hungry too if you went two days without eating," Duo laughed stealing one of Heero's cheese cubes and eating it. 

Trowa nodded at that then turned looking at Heero. "By the way, Quatre and the Queen should be returning soon, shall we go wait?"

Heero looked at Duo for a second then stood to his feet. "Yes, let's."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Don't tell me you're going to go see the queen dressed like that _and _smelling funky! That'd be _really_ insulting her, man!" Duo wiggled his nose just to touch it up some. 

Heero glared at him. "Then what are you suggesting?"

Duo grinned. "I'd suggest taking a quick bath then going out to meet her. At least look presentable." 

"Hn." Heero snorted but finally nodded his head. 

"Sugoi!" Duo hopped off the bed, food forgotten as he grabbed hold of Heero's hand, tugging him towards the door. "Finally, an excuse to do something about that hair!"

Trowa chuckled slightly watching the two leave. Well this was somewhat unexpected. He'd known Heero since he was a kid, both of them having been trained in the way of war since well…not even 6. To see Heero opening up, even a little, was a shock in itself. Things were looking up so far. What made Trowa worry though was what would happen next. He glanced over towards the window. Things don't stay sunny all the time. And it looked like it was going to rain soon. With a shake of his head he headed out the door to prepare to hear the news from Quatre, good or bad. Either way, he would support him.

TBC…

ok finally finally I put something up. *blinks* Once again I apologize for taking so damn long to put up the next chapter. ^^; And yeah it's not a very interesting chapter I guess but I'm sure it'll probably get interesting soon. I just don't know when ^^; but I guess that makes me not give yas any spoilers so this is good. Next chapter to come up soon hopefully not three months later. 


	8. Spellcaster 8

Pairings: the obvious ones blinks

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!!

Author's comments: My my ; It appears I'm still lazy, ne? Um If there are any typos or bad grammar or um grammar I apologize as I do not have a beta reader. ; I'm still kinda picky on just letting any random person do it and well You'll just have to live with a little bad spellin. That and it took me three months to post this? blinks Sorry Sorry and apparently looking at this later I guess it took me more than three months now? Evil bad me. Bad!

Extra Author's note: Sorry I'm so late in posting this! 

Story note:

__

"Yappity yap yap" = Mental conversation.

Spellcaster 8

"So what exactly has brought you here with us?"

Quatre was jolted out of his thoughts as he looked up at the female sitting across from him. He had been dressed pretty formally, wearing a pair of white slacks that were just slightly loose and nestled against his tummy right below his belly button. He also wore a blue button up shirt, and a white jacket that matched the pants, coming to rest at his waist if he stood. His soft blond hair blew gently in the breeze that flowed through the open windows of the wooden carriage, the soft drapes caressing his cheeks.

Wufei sat beside him, his silent guard, though not so comfortable in his own formal attire he had been given. Wufei was not the only guard though. There was another guard as well, a female guard by the name of Dorothy, the queen's guard. She had long hair herself, almost the same color as Quatre's but lighter. Her eyebrows were freakishly long that it was hard not to look at her weird.

The one who had spoken to him was not the queen herself but her spokesperson and lady in wait, Noin, another female. Though her hair was a lot darker, like a black or a blue, it reminded Quatre of Trowa. The way the hair set to the side covering an eye. It made him wish that he had taken the other with him; however, he knew that had Trowa came he himself would not have paid attention to the risk at hand. He could not allow that.

"King Treize of Oz sent me has a representative as well as a negotiator to speak to Queen Relena about what's been happening here in the city. Please tell me, what has become of the city? I remember once a long time ago when I came through here with my father, nothing was as bad at this. The people weren't fighting each other in the streets and trying to kill each other! The guards protected the people not-"

"Silence!" The sudden force of Noin's voice gave Quatre pause, his voice freezing up whatever else he had planned to say. The only thing he could do was stare into the eyes of the woman that had yelled at him. Quatre could feel Wufei tensing beside him and forced himself to settle down. He didn't need a drift to appear between him and the queen. This was their only chance at finding the problem so they could return peace to the land. "You are NOT to speak to the queen as if she incapable of running her own country."

Quatre gave out a quiet sigh as he lowered his head closing his eyes. "Yes I know, and I apologize for being so hasty." His eyes opened again, shining with determination as he looked at the queen. "But you yourself have to admit that something is not right! I'm sure you're very capable and from the way it sounds you have been ruling your country as well as any other ruler if not better. So what has happened to cause such a grand change?! Why are the people fighting each other?!" Quatre quickly shut his mouth seeing the look in Noin's eyes at his sudden outburst. But before Noin could say anything Relena held up a hand to silence her giving her a glance before she turned to look at Quatre.

"You are right. We are a pacifist nation and yet we do not get along within our own." She folded her arms in her lap, looking down for a moment before she looked at him again. She was quiet, smiling as she gave him a look, almost a sad one. "However, the problem at hand is far greater than even you can imagine. There is a reason this is happening, a reason that even I have yet to come into an understanding of."

Quatre nodded his head slightly. "I heard that your brother, Millardo Peacecraft has returned and also that he has taken over the Peacecraft nation in your stead."

Relena bowed her head slightly as she closed her eyes. "That is but a rumor. As queen I would never relinquish my throne without a fight." Her eyes opened again as fire burning deeply within them as she stared at him. "The monsters surrounding the kingdom can be the only explanation as to why my people are becoming so restless. They put fear into them so that they do not even want to come out at night, if at all."

Quatre frowned slightly at that. Did she really believe that? Thinking back to the monstrous slaughter of the people at the church, the smell of burnt flesh and decaying bodies, of blood. He felt nauseous just thinking about it. He never wanted to see anything like that ever again. "You have heard of the church being burnt down, have you not?" Quatre's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke. He had to get through to her. She had such trust that her guards would harm no one, when next they could actually come after her as well.

Relena nodded her head, her bangs bouncing slightly with the movement. "Yes, I have. As terrible as it was, the creatures were bound to do it. They're hungry for meat now and will come into the city."

Quatre frowned at that. Was that what her men had reported? It was a lie, a flat out lie! They themselves had killed all those people! Creatures don't burn buildings! "Your men have been lying to you! Please open your eyes to the truth, Queen Relena! Your nation will crumble if you don't do something!"

"Shut your mouth!" A echoing clap sounded as a hand connected against a cheek in a slap, a slap that jolted poor Quatre. "You are not to speak of me or my men or my nation as if we are incapable of overcoming simple problems!" Her eyes were heated burning bright giving her an almost possessed look before it quickly melted away and she put a smile on her face regaining her composure. "We shall return to the palace now. I believe your friend might be awake now."

Quatre glanced over to Wufei seeing the frown on his face as well as his hand on the handle of his sword. He was prepared to defend the young representative at all cost. It gave Quatre a sense of importance but what good would that do if they couldn't even get through to the ruler? He sighed and lowered his head closing his eyes. "Yes, your majesty."

Duo gave a mental sigh as he sank back down onto the bed that Heero had been occupying earlier. Well he had tried to help the other clean up considering he was still a little weak, you know wash his back, do his hair, get him something better to wear than old worn out clothing with holes in them but nooooo he had to go do it all by himself. I hope he falls in. He huffed slightly and laid back on the bed closing his eyes slightly. Trowa was already gone out, prepared to meet up with Quatre and Wufei. Which left Duo to take care of Mr. Grumpy. Well at least on a good note he was starting to stop calling him thief all the time. Of course that didn't mean he was calling him by his name either. He still had a lot of name calling in his blood. Well, sure ok so he did pull him a little roughly in his injured state towards the baths. But well he wouldn't have taken one had he not done it. And really, it was his own fault for rushing head first towards the monsters.

A frown lifted to his lips at that. He didn't know why he decided to be so careless at that time. What did he expect to achieve rushing into them like that? It was a wonder he even survived at all. Hell, it was a wonder he was even up at all! And with hardly any injuries except the wince he kept giving every so often. He was a fast healer, Duo had to admit. However, if he were completely human that wouldn't be possible. And as much as he didn't want to think about it, he had been capable of fighting against Shinigami, something no one had been able to do. Just the thought of it made him want to throw away the cross. But no, he had to keep it, he couldn't let it be taken into the wrong hands. But he couldn't allow himself to be controlled by Shinigami either. It would only be a matter of time before Shinigami completely took over. Duo would have to prepare for that, he would have to use the cross as little as possible to keep it from happening.

The door to the bedroom opened and Heero walked in. His hair was still dripping wet as he looked up, cobalt blue eyes staring at Duo sitting on the bed. He had a pair of dark brown pants on which fit just right, not too big and not too small. Of course he was still barefoot. His old, torn and bloody clothing were still in his hands as he started into the room. He wore a button up shirt that was…not in the least bit buttoned up, his chest being exposed for all to see and being that it was still shining with wetness from the bath, Duo took it that he hadn't been able to dry his chest nor button his shirt. It would have normally been enough to laugh at him or tease him but Duo found himself only staring at him. Wow…he hadn't expected him to be so well built. Well ok maybe he did but still…

Heero lifted an eye slightly as he stared at him, before dropping the pile of clothing on top of his head. "Are you done staring now?"

Duo yipped slightly and shook his head knocking the clothing off of him before he glared at him. "Hey hey it'll be a cold day in hell before I stare at you." He folded his arms slightly as he sat up tilting his head curiously. Something was bothering him though. "I was just wondering, I mean you did get hit hard and well you were bleeding quite a lot so shouldn't there be a cut or a bruise or some kind of marking?"

Heero snorted slightly but he did give pause before he sat down on the bed, his back to Duo as he reached down to slip on the boots beside the bed that were just for him. "….No. I am capable of healing quickly." He glanced back at Duo then started about lacing up his shoes, wincing only slightly at being bent to do it. "It has been that way ever since I was young. What can be fatal to others could be just normal for me." He finished up the one foot and turned his head to glare at Duo. "That was why I told you to leave me back on our way here."

Duo rubbed behind his head blinking blankly at him for a moment before a big grin spread across his face. "Oh ok, so you're a super human then, are you? And you said you didn't believe in magic, oi!" Duo chuckled and jabbed a finger at him poking him in the shoulder. "So you're generally like a cockroach, you just don't die."

Heero grunted and swatted at the finger. "I still won't hesitate to kill you, thief."

"Oi oi! Not with that thief stuff again!" Duo sighed as he rubbed at his forehead. "What would it take to make you call me by my name?"

Heero snorted and started working on the other foot now pulling on the boot and lacing it up. "Proof that you have some intelligence and that you're not a thief."

"Hey, I do have intelligence!" He smirked slightly as he rubbed at his arm. "How do you think it is I outsmarted you the first time we met?"

"Don't remind me." He finished doing the other boot up and stood up turning to stare down at Duo on the bed. "Your need here is complete now." Heero narrowed his eyes slightly. "Because you've lead us here, I won't turn you in for theft and for trying to kill us."

Duo batted his eyelashes at him. "Aww how sweet. You do have a heart inside that cold metal shell of yours."

Heero blinked, feeling his cheeks heat up and cleared his throat, giving him his best glare as he turned and started for the door. "I mean what I say. So stop following us and go somewhere."

"Hmm…Ooooh I don't know." Duo moved, sliding himself over to the edge of the bed and dangling his feet off the side before he got up. "I might just need to head in the direction you're going in. I think I have business there." He grinned.

Heero growled quickly turning to glare at him. "You don't even know where we're going!"

"Ta ta." Duo waggled a finger at him as he started to walk towards him. "If you keep yelling out like that people are going to think you're being very out of character." He smirked again as he stopped in front of him reaching out and started to button up Heero's shirt. A blush came across Heero's cheeks as he stared speechlessly at Duo. Really, if the other weren't so beautiful…. He shook his head quickly pushing Duo roughly away from him with a scowl. Fine, so the other was a beautiful creature with a long snake like braid and soft gentle features and amazing eyes. So what? It wasn't like Heero liked males, or even anyone. He just found Duo attractive, that's all. Nothing else attached.

"Heh." A look passed through Duo's eyes before he pushed a smile to his face. "I forgot. You're Mr. I-can-take-care-of-myself-and-don't-need-friends." Duo grinned, looking oh so smug as he leaned closer causing Heero to lean back away from him. "Aww, too close for comfort? You know it's a shame that such a cute guy such as yourself turned out to be such an asshole." Duo sniffed as he pushed past him heading to the door. "You better start getting ready though, I don't think we're going to be staying here for long." Before Heero could object to the fact that Duo said 'we,' Duo was out the door.

He shook his head. Sometimes he wondered what the other was thinking. But then again maybe not…he'd only known him for a few days and already he was making their lives a living hell. But somehow he couldn't help the feeling that something was going to happen soon, something terrible. He recalled when they were sitting in the streets after the monster battle he still didn't know the details on. He remembered the expression he saw on Duo's face as the other spoke about his past, about the item around his neck. Heero had heard fear, he knew it, but he had heard something else. The other was fighting something inside, probably another emotion or probably Shinigami himself. He only had a matter of time before the creature of death would take him over. And then where would he be? Even worst, with death free what would happen to the world?

Shinigami must have been what had saved him back with the monsters. That was the only explanation. However, he couldn't get over the feeling like he was next. Like Shinigami was after him. Aside from the braided baka….thief's big mouth, that was the only other reason Heero couldn't stand to be near him. He didn't like that feeling of being observed. Heero had to shake the thought from his head as he stood to his feet. How many times before had Duo used the cross to summon Shinigami?

__

Where once there was a solo, now there is a Duo… For some reason lately that simple line was torturing Heero more. At first he had thought Duo meant his friend Solo…but now…could he really be talking about Shinigami? About the two combining?

Duo was walking down the hallway, his hands clenched at his sides as he fought mentally for control. Shinigami had arisen, right after Heero's spoken words. He healed easily. Shinigami liked that challenge and it made Duo regret he had even asked. On the bright side it meant that Heero wouldn't die easily. On the downside that meant that Shinigami would be tempted to try even more to take over Duo's body for the opportunity of taking the young soldier's life. He could actually hear Shinigami in his head, mocking him easily. And it annoyed him to no end.

__

"You have done well in picking a strong one this time, Duo Maxwell." Shinigami laughed inside his brain teasing him unrelentingly. _"This one is very strong, very…attractive."_

Duo growled shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked, his eyes twitching slightly in irritation. Heero would have thought the reason for him leaving so quickly to be because he was angry at him. Really it was because Shinigami would not shut up about him. It was like some sick infatuation and Duo did NOT want to give him the benefit of drooling over the soldier and/or plotting his death with any means and ideas given. _"Look would you just chill out! I'm not letting you kill him so just cool your jets? Don't you have some dead guys you can go play with or something?"_

Shinigami only laughed, a sound that sounded like nails scratching against glass…sometimes he just had to be SO dramatic. _"It's not the same, little Duo. There's no heat, no fear to stare at…no…response. He is a rare breed, this one. And I will have him for myself." _Duo could swear he could see the smirk on the other's face. _"I will have him dead or alive. He has the means to live and he fights me. The challenge is wonderful…I will have his life."_

"Oh yeah, like I'd willing let you do that." Duo slammed a fist against the side of the wall as he walked by, several of the maids giving him a look. Ah, it wasn't like he liked them anyway. They called the group of them beautiful princes. Ok fine…he got called princess more than prince sometimes. Stupid maids and their ideas that people with long hair and nice features just HAVE to be female. Hell, Heero was more feminine than him…ok so he didn't fight like it….

__

"You're thinking about him again."

"Would you just get out of my head?!" Duo growled out narrowing his eyes before he sighed. Ok this could drive him insane. Shinigami didn't used to talk so much if at all. Man, why did it have to be him who had to deal with this? But as long as Shinigami had a host he wouldn't be able to control anyone else. As long as Duo held out, fought against him, and didn't use the cross anymore…. If he accompanied Heero he would no doubt have any choice in the matter. The other was like blood to leeches. And…just why did he have to be so difficult? But if he didn't follow him maybe Shinigami would grow tired of him and return to his dark den…when ice grew in hell and the ocean became the sky…. Duo gave a sigh as he walked out the castle to join Trowa in waiting on the return of Quatre. This would settle everything. It all depended on Quatre. What a way to live….

TBC…

Ok ok . It's done for now. I can't say when the next will be coming so um ; I hope you look forward to it and don't forget what the story was about forcing to have to reread it all again?__


	9. Spellcaster 9

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!! Changed to rated R just in case it starts to get too violent later on. That and being Rated R is cool. Though being rated NC-17 is far cooler. ::snickers::

Author's comments: Sorry I haven't wrote on this in a while. I was um...working on FF I admit. But well…ok so I took down the old chapter 9 and put this one up. I'm hoping it works out better. At least it won't be as butchered? Thanks to the person that commented on being utterly confused. Because I guess it really didn't make any damn sense.. I was moving too fast so I'm slowing it down again.

Extra Author's note: Sorry I'm so late in posting this!

Story note:

"Yappity yap yap" Mental conversation.

Duo has a nice ass mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 9

He was not liking this. Something wasn't right at all. He could feel Quatre tensing beside him. Apparently he was feeling it too. Feeling eyes on him, Wufei looked up seeing Noin looking right at him with the most evil eyes he'd seen in a long time. He glared back though, not about to be brought down by a mere woman. Even if she did seem capable of fighting. Even though he was supposed to be paying attention, Wufei's thoughts were split. He was thinking about what Queen Relena was saying but at the same time he was thinking about back in town. It had all moved so fast that none of them had had time to think, to figure out what had happened.

What had gotten hold of Heero to hurt him so badly? Was it a monster? And if it was why didn't it completely annihilate him? He wondered what had happened back at the town when Duo sent them away. He wondered why Heero was healing so quickly. He had no answers.

"You are not to speak of me or my men or my nation as if we are incapable of overcoming simple problems!" Simple Problems? Was the woman insane? Then again, Wufei was starting to believe that. There was more here than what was being said. And it shouldn't have to be this hard to get what they needed out of the woman. He blamed it on Quatre's weakness for not speaking out more harshly. Who cares if it was the queen? But then Quatre could be rational where as Heero would just use violent measures. "We shall return to the palace now. I believe your friend might be awake now."

Heero had been out for two days. What made her think he was awake now? But Wufei kept his silence, just watching her and her little servant quietly, observing them. He didn't trust them. He didn't trust what they said. Especially about Zechs…well then again considering how she was acting, he wasn't too sure.

A rumor my behind.

He believed that Zechs was somewhere in the castle. And when he got a chance, he was going to find him. If there was one secret passage in the palace, of course there would be more. He just had to find them…wait….

Duo….

Duo was bound to know where other places were. He'd been in this castle so many times before so who knew? But now Wufei's thoughts took another turn. The soliders from the castle had been trying to kill him for who knew how long. So…why suddenly accept them now that they were in the castle? Was it the doing of Relena?

Damn it…why did he choose to accompany Quatre? That's right, Trowa would have been ogling so much that he wouldn't have paid attention if the boy ended up being in trouble.

* * *

"We should start it now. This would be the perfect time to attack." It was a feminine voice, placed in such a dark place. Aside from the features of the people around her being easily seen though hidden by cloaks, everything else was pretty much put into a shade of darkness. The only thing that was visible was the man in front of her sitting on the throne, and the two men beside her. "They're as separated as it will be, this is the time to attack!"

"Patience," a deeper voice spoke, the man on the throne seat. "You're right in one aspect but rushing into things can cause problems as well. There was a reason these males were picked. They're all strong in their own way. The blonde is an empathic but he can easily be taken care of. The main threat would be the man called Heero Yuy and…"

"The young elf boy. I thought they had all been destroyed," this was the man on the girl's left side. But to be honest the girl never really paid attention to her companions features. What she wanted, neither could give her. Complete destruction.

"All but two were destroyed," the man on her right said. He shifted touching something on his head before lowering hand again. "But this one, he has a particular power. It was capable of destroying the monsters that entered the city…on that night. And very easily too, might I add. So, right now this is our biggest threat."

"He won't be a problem," the throne man said. "You." His fingers lifted up pointing over at the girl from underneath his dark robes. "Take care of the blond. Make sure he is destroyed by any means necessary. You should do it now while they aren't alert." He pointed his finger again, to the man on the left of her. "You'll take care of Heero Yuy, don't kill him, just distract him."

"And me?" The man on the right said.

"You will…have the most important job. Have patience."

_

* * *

"I could swear you were supposed to be meeting someone. Or is the reason you been down this hall for the fifteenth time now the fault of that man?"_

Duo sighed slightly, listening to Shinigami inside his head. As terrible as it was, he was starting to get used to the damn thing. "It's not like I asked you to be here."

"Oh but you have. You've practically invited me in when you first used that cross. I was getting kind of tired of using it as a host anyway." Duo froze when he heard that, swallowing slightly. What did he mean by that? Did this mean…?

"Are you…is the cross…?"

"Don't fret yourself. I haven't fused with you…yet. It's more like taking a break…though being here inside your mind is very comfortable. I can see all your thoughts, dark pawn. Tell me, do you miss your friend? What was his name…Solo?"

Duo frowned, trying to tune out the voice, though that was impossible considering it was like it was his own thoughts. "Quit reading my past and get the hell back in your cross."

"Ooo. I take that as a yes then." Shinigami laughed again, something Duo was finding to be more and more annoying. _"Well, since you're not going to see your weird headed friends, why not take us back to your little…partner. You know…the intriguing one that heals himself."_

"I won't!" Duo seethed slightly, making another turn around the corner of the hallway. "You only want me to do that so you can torture him. I won't allow it!"

"You do realize who it is you're talking to, right? I am Shinigami, I can do as I please. If I wanted to, I could take over your body right now…but I find this to be so enjoyable."

Duo just glared out ahead of him, clenching his hands at his sides in anger. "You bastard…." It wasn't like Duo could just reach out and punch the…guy…thing. Not unless he hit himself, and of course that would do no good. He hated to admit it but his fears about Shinigami taking over were becoming more a problem. It seemed that since using the cross again, Shinigami had found a dwelling somewhere inside Duo. But even with Shinigami's words, Duo knew the other didn't have control of his body. At least not yet. They weren't so closely bonded yet.

"I still remember the look in his eyes when he died. Do you remember that, dark pawn? The way his life faded from his eyes as he gave a look of betrayal. That was your fault, wasn't it? Yes it was.

"Stop playing games with me…I'm not in the mood for this." It was a touchy subject, mostly because Duo blamed himself for Solo's death . Even now, after two years, he still felt like it was his fault. Because Shinigami could tap into his body though…he could see into his mind and play around with that. And he was just making it worse now.

"Then take me to the boy so that I may have some fun."

Duo was about to respond to that, to express his anger further when a sound came from behind him. He was quick to move, turning around as he placed a hand onto his dagger in defense. Strange, his ears should have picked up the on the sounds sooner. As shocking as it was…maybe not so shocking, he was in a darker part of the palace. It didn't seem at all active, the most he'd seen being one servant that walked by. That was an hour ago. However, any malice thoughts that had been in his mind suddenly died as he came face to face with a giant black panther.

"Scythe! It's been a while, buddy." He kneeled down rubbing the beast behind the ears as he smiled hearing the satisfied purring. That was until that smile completely died from his ears as he was listening mentally to what the large panther was saying to him. "Quatre's in trouble? What do you mean?! Who's attacking them?!" His eyes just darkened as he stood to his feet, taking a deep breath as he fingered the hilt of his dagger fondly. "Fine. Take me to them…. What? No, we don't have time to go tell him, just lead me there."

The panther nodded his head as if agreeing before he turned and bounded off down the hallway, Duo managing to keep up. He wasn't an elf for nothing. Maybe this was good though. He was starting to get too pent up in this place. He needed some action.

"You could have had plenty of action with that boy. He doesn't like you anyway, why not just give him to me."

"Will you just shut it? I'm going to need concentration and I don't want you ruining it." Scythe glanced back at him but kept running. He quickly turned though, ducking into a room, to Duo's questioning glance, and jumped out of the window there. If it was Duo's guess, that was probably how he had gotten into the palace in the first place. He landed easily on the ground before, Duo following right behind him, never slowing. He didn't have time to slow down, not with Quatre in danger. There was no telling how many enemies were there not to mention if Wufei was still doing well. Maybe he should have told Heero, or at least Trowa. But for some reason…he wanted to do this on his own. The less people that were there, the better he would be able to handle this problem. And if he were lucky, it wasn't so much that Shinigami would have to be called on.

They were already running, moving through the woods, taking the quickest path possible but staying out of sight of any monsters that might be lurking. Already his dagger was out, ready for use. People often said it was a pitiful weapon, but he found it to be really assuring and far better than a sword. It was quick and deathly, just like he was. Besides, there was still the use of magic if needed. But Duo rarely used those things, trying his best to fit in as a normal human being so no one would find him out. Even now, elves weren't really thought of the best in this part of the world. But of course everyone thought the elves were dead or never existed, so he had nothing to worry about then as long as he stayed hidden.

Has he was following Scythe, he heard the sounds of metal on metal being picked up by his ears. Scythe paused in running and looked back at him and Duo had to give a small smile before he knelt down beside him, whispering something in his ears. At the panther's nod, Duo stood again, watching him run off. He took a deep breath, hearing Shinigami saying something in the back of his mind before he tuned it out and turned running off towards the sounds. If he remembered right there weren't many there to defend Quatre…much less the Queen.

He was moving anyway though, running, doing his best to make it in time. As the battle came into sight, he stopped among the trees looking out and surveying the battle so far, eyes scanning to see who was alive. He saw Wufei at one side, growling as he pushed against the assaults of the enemy. They appeared to be like soldiers, except they weren't human. More like half human, or half…something. Skin having been melted away so badly it was hard to tell really. They didn't speak, they didn't really make sounds but growled as they used their weapons with ease.

It smells like a pig's pen, Duo said wiggling his nose around at the smell.

Wufei, though still fighting with all his determination, was getting tired. Duo could tell by the heaving of his chest, the way his moves were more sluggish. He wouldn't last much longer. Already he had blood dripping from his shoulder, a sign that he had been hit. Still he was using that hand so it must not be that serious. But the blood lost was probably making him feel weaker. In another spot he saw a woman. Her hair reminded Duo of Trowa but he shook his head, deciding that this wasn't the best time for playing the comparison game. The girl seemed to be doing fine, all her attention focused on keeping the monsters off her. She had someone else behind her, which looked like the Queen who was being protected. Which means that the only person missing was….

Another more distinct sound reached his ears and he glanced around before turning to follow it. It wasn't that far away but he could hear scuffling. That was probably Quatre. And yes he was right. Quatre was moving, running through the forest passing just by Duo's vision. He saw someone moving behind Quatre and frowned. It was a female, long blond like hair flowing behind her. It was a really light blond look, her eyebrows shaped oddly and darker. She was wielding a very interesting weapon as she was chasing Quatre, the boy defenseless. The girl seemed intent on killing him, but she was obviously not with Relena and the Trowa look alike. So who was she?

She lifted up her mace and Duo cursed himself, moving quickly and running with all his speed. He heard Quatre let out a yelp, tripping onto the ground and landing face first. He managed to turn over, holding his arms in front of him as a shield just as the weapon was coming down. Duo just growled, preparing to throw the dagger. He wasn't going to make it in time. He had to do something.

The mace came down and…it stopped. Three people looked on in confusion, one unnoticed as of yet. The mace had impacted something, but there was nothing there to be seen. Then…what was it that was blocking? As if angered the girl growled out and lifted the mace preparing to bring it down again. Duo was on the move already though, using his dagger and throwing it, the point of it hitting into the side of the mace but being a strong enough impact to deter the next blow. She seemed taken aback and looked over before freezing in her spot. "You're not supposed to be here!"

Eh…what?

Duo just stared at her in confusion as Quatre took this chance, picking up the dagger and thrusting up with all his might, closing his eyes. There was a gurgling sound and a pained yell as the girl stepped back from him, quickly holding her hands over the wound produced in her stomach. She seemed angrier than hurt in Duo's opinion. "You stupid fool!" She lifted a foot, kicking Quatre in the stomach before she turned running off.

Duo hesitated, debating on rather to go after her or to attend to Quatre. He could see that the other wasn't moving and frowned taking that to be his first priority. He moved quickly, stopping to kneel down beside the other. "Quatre, are you ok?" The other didn't respond, still clenching the dagger in his hands, his eyes clenched shut. "It's ok," Duo said, petting the other's hair softly. "She's gone so don't worry."

"I've…never done anything like that before," Quatre said. As if realizing what he had in his hands still, he quickly sat up tossing the dagger away from him and scooting back from it as quickly as possible. Such a strange action, but Duo was starting to understand now. He moved over, taking the dagger and cleaning it off on the grass before he put it away and looked at Quatre.

"This must be your first time doing this sort of thing." He reached up brushing his bangs out of his eyes before giving Quatre a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. It's normal to feel this way afterwards…. I don't know if she's dead or not, but had she died before your eyes, you'd be feeling worse than this." He stood up to his feet, brushing himself off before he extended a hand out to Quatre. "We need to go see how Wufei's doing." The other nodded reaching up and grabbing hold of his hand, easily being pulled up by the elf. Duo was actually amazed by his lightness. Was he a feather or something?!

The sounds of battle had stopped soon after the girl had disappeared. He didn't want to admit it but he was afraid something probably had happened. "As much as you hate it though, it's good that you did what you did." He patted the other boy on the back then draped in arm around his shoulder drawing him to walk with him towards where the battle had been. Though the other flinched and tensed at the action, Duo just ignored it. "In battle you can't be soft. You either kill or get killed. That's why you have to fight with all you've got. Get what I mean?" Quatre gave him a look and he shook his head continuing. "Let me explain it this way. Everyone fights for something they believe in. I fight to protect the innocent and the people important to me. Because of that it gives me drive. I want to protect the people that need defending," Duo finished off before he sighed and brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"I think I understand," Quatre said, though Duo could still tell he was shaken. There was no help for it, at least not now.

"You should have called on me. I would have taken care of them."

Duo just growled, especially since he didn't like the sound of Shinigami's voice…in that tone. At Quatre's glance over, Duo smiled sheepishly before he pointed a finger off ahead. "And there goes Wuffie boy. He looks like he's fine. Hey!" Duo waved his hand to get the other's attention and smiled when Wufei looked up. Releasing his hold on Quatre, Duo ran over to Wufei, frowning in worry at the injured man. "Hey, you ok?"

Wufei just winced slightly holding his arm with his now free hand, since his sword was put away. "Does it _look_ like I'm ok?!" He grumbled something under his breath then looked over at Duo, confusion and a bit of suspicion on his face. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Ah well…you could say I sensed that you guys needed help…so I came here. And well…if you ask me why I didn't get Trowa and Heero before I came? I didn't have the time." He was hoping that Wufei wouldn't question it too much, at least right now. It'd be bad if anyone else knew he was an elf. Technically at the moment, the only person that knew was Heero. And so far that Duo knew, he didn't tell anyone yet, not even his teammates. It was something for Duo to be proud of. He felt that if anything, the other at least had a little bit of respect for him.

"Well I guess I should think you for saving us then," Wufei said rolling his eyes slightly. Suddenly he looked over towards the two ladies at the other side. They appeared to be fine actually, one woman having a few cuts on her cheek and such but that was it. Quatre was already heading in that direction, probably to see how they were doing. In which case, Duo turned his attention back on Wufei, a serious look crossing his face.

"Do you having any clue why you were attack?" he asked of Wufei.

Wufei frowned slightly then shook his head in reply. "My only guess it that they're either after Queen Relena, or Quatre. Though why they would want to kill Quatre is beyond me." Duo nodded at that. His mind was thinking back to the time when Quatre was about to be killed. Something had prevented it, blocked the blow that should have ended his life. The only thing Duo could think of was a type of force field. So does this mean Quatre knew how to do magic? He recalled the first they he had seen them riding through the forest towards Sanc. The blond had been the one that seemed to sniff him out. Somehow….

"In the meantime, your horses are here so we should get a move on while we can," Duo said. His ears were picking up the sounds already of the hooves moving. He also knew that he was being watched, by Scythe no thought. The other was always trying to protect him as best he could. He himself never really questioned why he could talk to Scythe. He couldn't talk to any of the other animals but the black panther. So he liked to think of Scythe as his guardian and companion.

"What are you talk-" Before Wufei could finish, one of the horses made a sound as they ran into the small clearing heading in the direction of Duo and Wufei. Little Rock broke away from the others, moving quickly to Quatre's side as he began to lick his face. The sight of his long missing horse was enough to cheer the boy up. As weird as it was, it was like the horses had taken on the traits of their masters. Almost instantly Duo was able to find out which one was Heero's. The eyes, just the way they looked at him was enough. Oh boy, this was going to be a long ride back.

TBC…

Be amazed, this was longer than normal…I think…I don't know, my formatting is weird right now. Gah! Anyways, soon to come, more FFBT. I've also been able to manage to um…refigure my plot for this story so to say. And maybe the entrance of baddies will keep the fire burning. Hoho! Next time on: Spellcaster. Heero gets an unexpected visitor…and stuff with Duo…and Quatre…and Wuffie-boy…and and Trowa since we haven't seen him in a while, oi!


	10. Spellcaster 10

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!! Changed to rated R just in case it starts to get too violent later on. That and being Rated R is cool. Though being rated NC-17 is far cooler. ::snickers::

Author's comments: I'm slow again I know. ; I noticed that like in the first chapter I named Heero's horse Zero and then in like the third chapter it became Wing. I apologize for my lack of paying attention so for now on it'll stay as Wing.

Extra Author's note: Sorry I'm so late in posting this!

Story note:

"Yappity yap yap" Mental conversation.

Duo has a nice ass mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 9

Quatre sat on top of Little Rock, following beside Queen Relena who was riding on Wing. After the surprise attack, they thought it wise to leave the area and return to the castle. The carriage they had ridden in was in shambles back in the forest, the horses either long gone or dead. Quatre didn't question how the horses of his own little group had gotten free, just that they were there just in time. He'd missed Little Rock. While Relena was on Wing, Noin was on Arms. It appeared the horse didn't like her very much, disobeying her at times and trying to flip her off. And of course, Wufei was behind the group, watching for back attacks and overly protecting his charge on his ever obedient Shenlong. The only one that didn't have a horse was Duo. Even after Wufei had offered him a ride on the back of his own horse, Duo had refused. Instead he was walking beside Wufei, chattering aimlessly about anything and everything. Quatre envied him and at the same time feared him. He didn't know why, he just did.

At the moment tough the type of feeling he was having towards the other was suspicion. How did he know what was going on? How did he get there just in time? Why did that woman say that? She had said that he wasn't supposed to be there. Then where was he supposed to be? What did Duo know that the rest of them didn't?

"This is all your fault!" Relena yelled suddenly, turning a venomous look onto the startled Quatre. A devil in disguise was the thought that popped into Quatre's mind. Honestly, she probably wasn't the best person to be running Sanc Kingdom. His memories of the place were still fresh, he just wish it where still the same as that time. "If you hadn't came here, none of this would have happened!" She turned around again, facing forward with a huff. "When we get back to the castle I want you and your little bodyguards OUT of the castle!"

"Queen Relena, I assure you we had nothing to do with-" He was interrupted by her voice breaking through his explanation.

"I don't want to hear about it!" Quatre let out a sigh, giving up on the matter. It wasn't as though she was going to change her mind anyway. But then what were they supposed to do now? Where were they supposed to go? Where they really going to head back to Treize's kingdom? Would the Peacecraft nation fall to pieces because of a naïve queen who wouldn't listen to reason?

This place used to be so beautiful. Was it the queen that changed that beauty, or something else?

Quatre saw the castle appearing up ahead and sighed again. Heero wasn't going to be happy about this. He cast a glance back at Duo again, finding the other looking off behind them towards the forest. Would Quatre tell Heero about everything that had happened? He was suspicious of Duo but yet the other had saved him. He really didn't know what to believe right now. The feelings he got from the young thief was a mixture of so many things. At one moment he was extremely happy, at another moment violent and malicious. But Heero did deserve to know…and Trowa…. To be honest, Quatre was glad they were back. It was getting dark…the monsters were sure to find out there was a battle. Then again, if Relena…the queen was only going to kick them out again, then they would have to deal with these monsters head on, unless they took another route.

Something else was bother Quatre too. When he'd almost been killed…something, some kind of force had stopped it. What could it have been? He wouldn't have thought much of it, would have thought that somehow that girl had missed, but he could actually feel a hidden energy inside his body at that moment. But, why was the girl so focused on killing him? Who would attack them? What enemies had they made that they didn't know about? And, how did Duo know where to find them? And why did that girl seem familiar to him?

* * *

Heero was walking down the hallway, fully dressed now as he was looking for the braided elf. Duo had left so suddenly, and had yet to return. When he went to check with Trowa, the other hadn't seen him either. He had frowned at that. Where was Duo now? He had the oddest suspicion that the other wasn't even in the castle. It was dark out, why weren't they back yet?

"Could it be because they were attacked?" Heero turned swiftly at the dark voice, holding his hand on the hilt of his sword ready. He hadn't spoken the words out loud, and he hadn't heard any footprints. As of yet, the only person that had ever successfully snuck up on him had been Duo despite his cheerful demeanor and the fact that he looked like he was incapable of shutting up for even a second.

"Who's there?" There was a figure there, a dark figure shrouded by a cloak that seemed far to heavy to be worn, and yet radiated such evil it left Heero with the feeling of being tainted. It was weird, like the person, the man by the sound of the voice, was absorbing all the lights around them to leave them in a black void. One of the flames in the lantern on the walls actually went out. The other lights still flickered, but they did nothing, only cast a very small light, enough for Heero to know that the man hadn't moved from his spot.

"You have nothing to gain by staying here in this palace," the man said taking a step closer, his shoes actually making a sound now, probably to give Heero warning to what was happening. Heero took a small step back, ready to move if he had to, unable to make his own feet quiet. It was like the darkness was making his sounds echo, even his breathing which was growing uneven like he couldn't breath. Heero had a feeling that if he got to close he'd somehow get swallowed up by the other man…he couldn't allow that. Question was why wasn't he being attacked? "They will not listen to reason…they are under our control…even the queen."

"Then let them go," Heero said simply, planting his feet and holding the hilt of his sword hard. He could feel the warmth radiating from it again, could see the glow starting to shine brightly, giving off it's on light like it was battling the darkness. It had only ever done that when Duo had attacked him. It still bothered Heero that it hadn't reacted at all when he was up against the numerous numbers of monsters, but most of that battle was still a blur to him.

"Don't tell me you think it's that easy. That your simply telling me to do it will cause it to happen." the man chuckled, a hand being lifted out towards Heero but not quite coming closer to touching him. "If you want to find a cure for this curse…you must find the horned flute that resides at the top of the mountains to the east. It is there that I will be waiting for you." Heero grunted under his breath. He'd had just about enough of this. This man was playing games with him. Quickly, the hilt heating up even more, he pulled out his sword that shined so bright and swung out at the man. As the sword passed through, the man dissipated into black smoke, the darkness fading as the lights resumed their usual brightness. Looking around quickly, he found the hallway to be empty.

Should he believe the man? He wouldn't gain anything from telling a lie…so Heero could only guess. But his instincts were telling him to believe this darkness male. He was sure he hadn't killed him and that gave him little comfort. Fine…he would play this game…he would meet at the mountain and put this all to an end.

Shit, Quatre!

He'd almost forgotten about what the other said. Did this mean they had been attacked? Heero put the sword away already moving down the hallway heading to the front gate. He'd have to grab Trowa and go look for them. He could still feel eyes on him and he glanced back expecting to see the man there again, but there was still nothing. Why did he get the feeling that things were only going to get worse from now on?

* * *

"I had him! I was so close!" Dorothy fumed, standing in front of her master. She hadn't even bothered with putting her hood back up. Whatever injury she had sustained was now gone, completely healed over. There was a chance it'd left a scar, but she seriously doubted it would happen. Again it was completely dark which was nothing all that new to her since her time in joining these…males. She was pretty sure her master already knew what had happened, but she hardly considered it her fault. They had failed to explain to her the situation completely.

"I see the little wimp took you down," the man beside her said jokingly. Even now, their features were hidden to her. But she knew just as well that her own was too, the main reason she hadn't bothered with the hood. It was a special technique that only the top officers and the master himself knew how to use. She was one of the lucky three.

"Shut up." She flicked her hair behind her back with a glare. She was going to make that boy pay for what he did to her! He should have been dead by now, if it hadn't been for that elf! Why was he there?! He wasn't even supposed to know about them or the attack! "I would have killed him had it not been for that stupid elf."

"Things are working perfectly." Their master said suddenly and the two underlings looked at him in confusion. How could things be going perfectly?! She just admitted to failing her mission?! Was this all a part of his plan from the start?! "We have new knowledge now. We now have more knowledge of one of the elf's comrades as well as the creature he has lurking in the dark for him. " He pointed a finger towards the male, his other hand drumming lightly on the chair. "There is a young…kitten, a panther of the darkness. I want you to take care of him. With him gone, the elf's close guardian will be gone and his help severed. We'll see how far he can go without it." A panther? How could she have missed it? No, it was a stupid creature that's why, so how could it be of help unless…. The master tilted his head up slightly, looking towards the door at the back. "I see you're back."

"Yes, things turned out as planned." It was the deep voice that gave him away, as he came in moving until he stopped at the other side of Dorothy, giving her a little grin. The third of their little trio and the first to ever becoming one of the master's henchmen slash top officers. "Seems I have a little more luck than you," he said to Dorothy, purposely trying to get her angry. She wouldn't allow it to happen, and only smiled back with her own wicked smile.

"Yes, it's amazing you can have luck considering you were something that had been scraped from the bottom of a stableman's boots."

"So I take it you've told him," the master said, ignoring the little bickering and thus focusing the attention back on hand. "Good. His curiosity and determination will take him there."

Dorothy frowned slightly listening to the two of them talking. She didn't know what this was about, she must have been gone when this had happened. But why would they make plans when she was missing? "What is going on? Take who where?"

"A little plan. Don't worry, you will have another chance at killing your little friend once everything is complete."

Dorothy huffed slightly. She didn't like not being around for the planning. It was probably cause she was the only female there. "Fine whatever. Let me know when it is time again." She turned to walk off but her master's voice stopped her. Why did she follow him? She wanted only the death of others and the world. But she lacked the power, she had to use power from her master in other to obtain that.

"Do not fail again," he said, the drumming of his nails on the armrest stopping. It was a warning, fail again and your life may rectify your failure to succeed.

"Yes, my liege." She could hear the other two behind her saying something but she ignored it, wanting more than anything to just get out of there. They underestimated her, but once she got rid of that…that boy, she would come back and kill them as well.

* * *

By the time Heero had made it downstairs, everyone was back. Trowa, from what he could guess, had instantly moved to question Quatre and check him for injuries. They seemed flustered over something, but the thing that caught his attention first was the fact that their horses were there. Wing walked up to him and Heero automatically petted the brown horse's nose before letting his eyes float around. He found Duo standing beside Wufei, but his attention seemed focused on something else. He looked like he was mentally arguing with himself, his expression marred with anger. However, when that face, those eyes turned and looked at him, it froze Heero where he was. It was that look again. It was hard to explain, like a mixture between longing and evil and a look like Duo wanted to strangle him. With a shudder, Heero looked away turning his eyes over to look at Quatre. He could see him talking to someone whose clothes that had once been beautiful and fancy now were dirty and shredded. He could see the anger in her eyes as she was talking back to Quatre and remembered what the man had said about a cure. Fine, if it was a cure they needed, then a cure they would get.

"Quatre, let's go," Heero said, already climbing up onto Wing's back. He'd been incapacitated for too long in his opinion and he needed to do something about it. This journey thing shouldn't take that long, right? It wasn't like Quatre's words where swaying the queen that much. "We'll come back later," he added as an afterthought, seeing that the other was about to complain about it.

"Don't ever come back!" The queen shouted out without warning, her eyes far more venomous than she should be considered for a human. "If you do, I will have you killed on the spot! I will have you hanged!" The woman behind her rested a hand on the queen's shoulder in what Heero could only take to mean consoling, however her own eyes had an evil look to them just as Relena's did.

"Is there a reason for the sudden rush to leave?" Wufei asked suddenly, walking over towards Heero, the reigns of Shenlong being held in his hand. He looked pretty rattled himself, bruised here and there but otherwise he was safe. Heero wanted to ask what had happened out there, but he found he didn't want to be having this conversation in front of the queen. He didn't trust them…nor the feeling he was having of still being watched.

This castle is evil.

"I'll explain it later." He looked over at Duo abruptly, hoping the other was out of whatever little world he was in. No, he seemed to still be stuck inside himself. That just made Heero wonder even more about what had happened in the forest. "Duo, I want you to lead us to town, is there a safer way than through the forest?" He got no acknowledgement and grumbled slightly before he called his name out again. "Duo!"

"Huh?!" Duo looked up at him suddenly, a look of confusion in his eyes before he put up a smile. What had he been thinking about that could cause him to be so unfocused. Even if Heero hadn't known the guy for long, he knew this to not be like him. "Oh, yeah there's a path that'll lead straight to the city," he said glancing off to the side for a moment before looking at Heero again. "The problem is it'll be out in the open. But with the horses and all, it's safer that way than through the forest where the monsters would easily have us."

Heero nodded slightly then looked around before letting his eyes settle on Trowa. "Go inside and retrieve anything that might belong to us then meet back out here." He could feel the eyes of the queen on them and knew they needed to get this done quickly. Who knew when she would snap…and Heero didn't want to have to be responsible for the death of a queen under the control of some evil man with the ability to cast curses. That was Heero's explanation for it anyway. As Trowa was heading inside, Quatre was quick to follow him, but Heero ignored it, finding that keeping an eye on him wasn't so important now that they knew what was really wrong here. He wondered, as he glanced at Duo, if there was a way to cure him also…of this dark power inside of him.

To the east then.

* * *

Trowa could feel the other's presence behind him and slowed down enough for the other to catch up and walk beside him. He remembered a few of the things that Quatre had said to him in such haste. It made him worry for the other. Trowa wasn't sure why he felt this way towards Quatre, but it was nothing he could control. He wanted to protect the other no matter what. And for all that to happen while he wasn't there, it made him feel guilty and incompetent. He had let Quatre down.

"I don't trust him," Quatre said suddenly and it caused Trowa to glance over at him in confusion. That had been kind of impulsive.

"Trust who?"

Quatre glanced over at him in turn, hugging himself lightly in the dressy clothes. It had to be uncomfortable, so Trowa didn't doubt that the other would change out of them. "I don't trust Duo."

This was reason for Trowa to stop where he was, staring at the other in shock. Could that really be what he had said? From as long as he had known Duo, which wasn't very long, he hadn't found any fault in him. Sure, he did try to kill and rob them in the beginning…but Duo also was forced to endure the death of his friends and family in one of the most brutal ways. Who really had started the fire? Not everyone in the castle was as cold hearted as the queen. Either way, it made him grow a form of respect for the man, and a sense of sympathy for someone to have to go through that and still have the power to live and be cheerful as he was. "Why don't you trust him?"

"I don't know," Quatre answered stopping where he was but not turning to look at Trowa as he bowed his head. "It's the feelings I can feel radiating from him. Since I'm empathic, I'm able to tap into other people's emotions…. His emotions…are very unstable. At times I feel anger but it'll quickly change into happiness. And sometimes there are two opposite feelings at the same time, like resentment and glee or pain and laughter. It doesn't make sense…and by the way he's been looking lately, he might likely snap soon." Finally Quatre glanced back at Trowa, his hair bouncing slightly with the movement. "I don't trust him because I can't understand him. How did he know to find us…to save me at that exact moment? Why did that girl seem to know him? He's keeping things from us."

"Everyone has secrets," Trowa said starting to walk again and moving past Quatre knowing he would follow either way. "You can't fault him for not telling it. Maybe he's not ready yet…maybe he's coping for the losses he has experienced and is also trying to keep those around him happy. I believe that he'll tell us when he's ready though…. I've found no true reasons not to trust him…he's helped us a lot since we met. He could easily leave us to die, but he's been willing to help us."

"Yeah, you're right." Quatre quickly caught up to once more walk beside Trowa. Heero was probably getting restless meaning they needed to hurry. Obviously, the other was anxious about something. Trowa was curious to find out. That's why Heero hadn't put up an argument about them leaving the castle…he didn't want the queen…or her people hearing. The town…probably the inn would be the safest considering that Duo knew people there. It was maybe the only sane place in the town. Strange, the sanest people were the drunks.

"What kind of feelings are you getting from the queen?" Trowa asked as they continued walking getting closer to their destination. He had to know…he'd never seen such…hateful eyes before.

"I feel…anger…hatred…she really doesn't want us here…it makes me think about those two guys in the city. They had mention strange behaviors like this…what's happening in this town? There's something much deeper and we've barely scratched the surface." He hugged himself tighter as he spoke the last words. "Why do they want me dead? What is it they think I will do? Or am I just a nuisance?"

Trowa shrugged slightly as he entered into their room, heading over to the bed to start picking things up. He didn't know how to answer those questions. Sure, he knew how he felt about Quatre, but he couldn't think why anyone would want to kill him. He was kind, sweet, and seemed innocent by Trowa's standards. He'd know Quatre about as long as he'd know Duo, if just a few days longer. And yet he'd developed trust in him in only a couple of hours after meeting. Why? Why did he feel this way? "Why don't you get changed while I gather up everyone's stuff?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Quatre smiled at that and was heading out the door before he paused. Trowa thought something might be wrong, but he still saw the smile on the other's face. "Thank you," Quatre said bowing his head slightly for a moment before exiting quickly. Thank you? He had done nothing to thanked for. It didn't stop his heart from beating a little faster though.

TBC….

Ah, I was gonna make it longer, but the stuff I wanted to add would have made it um…they have to go together with the next chapter and I don't want to separate them. Sorry, there was no action in this chapter but it did give more information about what was going on. Relena's a bitch but yeah…curses are evil like that. ::blinks…:: Ok so I don't hate Relena, I just don't like her. ::snickers:: If that makes any sense cause I'm sleepy and lazy and shit. ::pets Duo:: Emotional stress perhaps? Ee, I might be a while in updating considering I'm not doing so well in college. ::curses lack of ability to draw figures and cities perfectly...or the lack of paying attention and always falling asleep in art history class:: Blah, stupid school. Anyways, if anything , I'll continue working as bestestest I can. ::thinking about doing a Gundam Seed fanfic soon::


	11. Spellcaster 11

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo!! Changed to rated R just in case it starts to get too violent later on. That and being Rated R is cool. Though being rated NC-17 is far cooler. ::snickers::

Author's comments: ::blinks:: We'll see how well this goes. If it works then merry X-mas, multi-chapter update!

Story note: Flashback towards the end ::blinks::

"_Yappity yap yap_" Mental conversation.

Duo has a nice ass mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 11

Heero couldn't help but to cast another glance back on their ride to the inn. It had been a quiet ride, not a word from anyone of the group. Maybe they were all afraid of attracting unwanted attention. Queen Relena was far too quick to get rid of them, meaning whoever was causing this probably didn't want them around...so was he following the wrong decisions? He shook his head, forcing himself to think about the task at hand. The mountains to the east...that's what the man had said to him. It was all the more reason why he was starting to change his mind about taking Duo. The main reason was that Duo was also Shinigami…and if worse came to worse, he would kill Duo. It would better than letting him run around slaughtering and causing chaos. The other reason was the fact that just maybe Duo knew something about the area they were going to. He doubted that Duo had stayed in Sanc all that long, especially since he was an elfin orphan that ran away from home. No, Duo seemed too restless to sit around in a place like this…. How much did he know about the world? Better yet, how old was he? Maybe he should start questioning him more…. But right now, Heero's main concern of all concerns was…why was Duo riding in the back with Wufei?

Yes, when they were leaving, Duo had said he would be walking back instead. He said he didn't like horses all that well. Heero told him that it would be pointless to walk, especially at night. He had also said that if danger came up, it was be quicker to just ride instead of waiting for Duo to mount up or run. It took an actual direct order and a 'don't test me' glare from Heero before Duo finally agreed. And because of that…Duo chose to ride in the back farthest away from Heero. And of course Wufei was at the back of the group so he had no choice but to allow to arrogant elf to ride with him. Not that Heero cared, he just still didn't trust the thief. That could have been part of the reason for the silence as well since there was a strange tension in the group.

They were actually in the city now, riding down the cobblestone roads, the hooves of the horses clattering despite their need to be quiet. As things would have it, no one came out, not even a look out the window. After what had happened at the Maxwell Church, it looked like people were taking even more caution at night than usual. You had to be insane to be outside at this time. The dead monsters probably didn't help their fears either. Wing neighed slightly and Heero looked down petting him behind the ears slightly as his thoughts went back to earlier. How did the horses get out? He didn't think that Queen Relena and the others had went and got them. Why go out of the way for that? It couldn't have been Duo…or…could it have? This left room for more questions.

With all these thoughts, Heero was actually kind of happy when they finally made it to the inn. While he and the others started to tie up their horses, Duo was heading inside. There were still voices, still the sound of music and laughter. This had to be the only sane place in the entire city right now. Heero finished tying Wing up and glance back at his comrades before a commotion turned his head towards the inn door.

"Fucking damn it, you can't be serious?! What the hell?! Are you sure?!" It was Duo's voice, though it sounded distressed and surprised. With a grunt, Heero rested his hand on his sword, quickly starting into the inn. The music had died down at Duo's loud voice. Has Heero entered the inn, he looked around in search of the elf. Duo was standing at the bar, both his hands down on top of it from where he had slammed them down, looking intently at the Hilde behind the bar who seemed to have the same intensity as well. "Tell me, where is he?! Where is he right now?!"

"He's upstairs! I swear, he said he knew you and he mentioned...," Her eyes flickered down quickly before she looked up at Duo again. It was quick but Heero caught the gesture. The cross…whoever this was knew about the cross. This was dangerous. Before there was even a chance for anything to be said though, Duo was moving running up the stairs in a rush. The eyes of the patrons followed him up.

"Heero, what's going on?" Quatre was standing beside him and he whispered his confusion, the eyes now turning on them, the new comers.

"Wait here," Heero replied, not giving him an answer as he headed after Duo. That idiot, who knew what kind of trouble he was getting himself into. He vaguely heard Howard yelling for them to keep playing the music, his thoughts trying to figure out the puzzle. This was someone Duo obviously knew, but who? Who else could know about the cross? How many people knew about it besides Heero? He saw an open door up to the right and pulled his sword free, moving down the narrow hallway as he heard Duo's voice coming from the room. Quickly he rushed into the room, holding his sword ready. It was the correct room…but not exactly the correct scene. Duo was staring at him in shock, wetness running down his cheeks, as he was clinging onto a man, no…it was an elf. By the looks of the pointy ears, it had to be one…and he had light blonde hair and…Duo was sitting with him on the bed….

Suddenly Duo smiled, wiping at his cheeks removing the wetness that was there. "Heero, it's him! He's alive! Solo's alive!" Solo just grinned at Heero giving him a little light wave. He had a little black bandana tied around his head, keeping his long length hair back behind his back and contained. His clothes weren't of the best but they were clean and hole-free. His skin was slightly flushed…very alive. Heero didn't know what to say to this, lowering his sword.

He turned his head away, putting his sword away finally finding his voice again. "We'll be downstairs discussing our plans. Come down when you're ready." He left it at that, not even turning to look at them as he turned around heading back out the door. He could hear Duo saying his name but he ignored it, heading to the steps and to his comrades. He didn't know why he was reacting this way…but one thing was sure. Solo being alive…made Heero feel very uneasy.

* * *

"….so we're heading to the east. There is something in the mountains there that we must claim in order to safe Sanc Kingdom…and since this is like a type of curse…who's to say they won't target other nations as well." Everyone nodded to this, sitting around the kitchen comfortable. Heero was actually standing, a map spread out on the table that had been cleared away for them, though there was still something sticky there like honey or something. He had both his hands on the table, his thoughts apparently completely focused on the map and this new mission given to him. Somehow though, Wufei had the feeling that something was bothering him. He seemed more focused than usual, if that was possible. He glanced over at Quatre sitting on a small stool beside Heero and, by the look on his face, knew he was seeing the same thing. Something must have happened while Heero was upstairs.

"So…we could just take this road," Trowa said standing on the other side of the table and pointing down at the map. He was tired looking. Hell, they were all tired. Not to mention, Wufei was still feeling a little sore from earlier. Had Duo not came when he did…what would have happened to Quatre? They had all finally been told about what had taken place out there in the forest. Possibly the only thing lacking was Duo's input. But the boy seemed to have a knack for bouncing around the subject. There was question about Quatre's ability to make a shield…but with the lack of information about it, it was dropped until another time. "It should lead us to the river, and that should take us straight to the mountains."

"An eight day journey overall," Heero said glancing around at all of them. "Provided we don't stop for long. When we do stop, it will be for rest, re-supplying, and food."

"Yeah, we've already got some supplies made out for you all. It's already packed up on the horses so if you need anything else, just name it." That was Howard. He was sitting straddling a chair at the other side of Heero opposite of Quatre. He was a nice guy…he just looked weird. "Even got an extra horse just for Duo…if he's going that is." Heero stayed silent on that and Wufei had to shake his head at the old man's ignorance. With a quick sigh, Wufei pushed himself up from where he had been leaning against the wall.

"So when do you plan to leave then?" He said, looking over at their leader. He wanted to get as much sleep as he could. Who knew what problems they were going to end up running into out there.

"Three hours, then we'll leave. The quicker we start moving, the quicker we get back and get this over with." Wufei nodded to that starting for the door.

"Come wake me in a couple of hours then," Wufei said starting out the door to the kitchen. The music was still playing, sounding so joyous as the laughter and chatter continued on. There was someone lying drunk on the bar, half hanging off of it threatening to fall onto the floor. Others were dancing around, giddy as they clapped their hands singing along to whatever song it was. This wasn't Wufei's type of place. He saw Hilde walking around, serving drinks and slapping hands that got just a little too friendly with her. She was probably used to this sort of thing, but it mentally reminded Wufei that humans could be monsters too. He started up the steps, when he saw Duo coming down. Since the steps were narrow, he turned pressing against the side of the railing, letting Duo pass by giving him a small nod in greeting. The other waved back smiling as he moved passed, followed by another with a black bandana tied around his head. That must have been the friend Duo was so excited about. That was probably also the reason why Heero was so angry…or upset…or whatever he was.

Fuck it, this wasn't his job to be thinking about, he just wanted some sleep. He continued up the steps, and took claim of the first empty room he found, flopping down on the bed. They should be so lucky to know someone that was friends with the owner or else they'd have had to pay for this. Who know how lucky they would be in the future with this. Wufei wiggled around slightly, getting comfortable on the soft bed with a yawn. Question was who was it that wanted Quatre dead? Why did they want him dead? Maybe it was something about that power or his ability to read people's emotions. Yeah, in a conversation with Quatre, he had learned a little about himself. Headstrong and dedicated was Quatre's definition of him. But Quatre had also said he could sense a sort of sadness in him. Wufei had an idea about what it was…and it was the reason for why he became a knight. He yawned again starting to doze off. His shoes were left on, just in case there was an emergency. Who knows, maybe his dreams would be lighter this time.

* * *

Duo frowned as he entered the kitchen, holding hands with his best friend, Solo. Everyone was gathered around a map on the table, but at his entry everyone looked up at them, everyone except Heero. It was a little unnerving and he had to clear his throat, pulling his hand free from Solo's as he started towards the group. He didn't really want to let go. He had done so for so long that having seen Solo again had broken him. He was so happy…so why was Heero making this harder for him? Why would he be so upset? He may not have said anything to betray his emotions, but his eyes…his body language did the talking for him. "So what did you guys come up with," he said giving them a smile as he stopped beside Howard, looking over his shoulder at the map. No one said anything, everyone looking over at Heero before Quatre cleared his throat.

"We learned there's a curse on the city and it's effecting the people…" Quatre said casting a weary glance at Heero afraid he might snap. Duo could understand why. The other's hands were trembling like crazy. "We're going to find a cure for it. It's…to the east of here…in some mountains." Duo nodded, looking down at Heero who still had not acknowledged him. Was he still angry about earlier because he didn't want to ride on a stupid horse? It wasn't even that big of a deal!

"Well, you guys would probably end up getting lost if I didn't come along so I'll just-"

"You're staying here."

Duo blinked at that, his sentence freezing in midair as he stared down at Heero like he'd just heard that humans were really dogs with rabbit ears. "What did you just say?"

"You're staying here," Heero repeated lowly, his eyes turning up to meet Duo's. There was a glare in them, a look of anger, and something else entirely different that Duo couldn't quite make out.

"And since when did you become my mother?" Duo said glaring in return, folding his arms over his chest.

"Since I learned just how much of an idiot you really are." Heero snarled pushing up from the chair.

"So now you've resorted to childish name calling again?" Heero just ignored him, turning around to walk away, only realizing later that someone was blocking his way.

"Move," he said, keeping his voice low. He was dangerous…especially now. What was triggering his anger? Was it Solo? Did he hate Solo? How could he?! He just met him!

"Whoa, I don't mean to be rude, But I thinks you should apologize to Duo." Solo didn't look the least bit scared as he said that, holding up his hands in a 'I surrender' pose. There was reason for that though, because Solo was an elf…and his magical powers were greater than Duo's. He had had far more training in it, Duo remembered. Hell, the only reason Duo even knew the things he did was because of Solo. He owed him a lot.

"Move or I'll kill you," Heero mumbled. Duo couldn't see his eyes, but he did see his hand on the handle of the sword. This was not good.

"Heero…" Duo said in warning. He didn't want there to be any bloodshed. He'd seen enough of that when the church had been destroyed.  
"Whoa, what's going on in here?" Duo looked over as Hilde entered, stopping right at the door at the sight before her. Everyone appeared to be tensed up, and Duo glanced over at Quatre catching the worry in his eyes. Was this all his fault? Neither Heero nor Solo had moved from their spot, staring each other down and daring one or the other to move. The only calm one in the group was Trowa…and you could never tell with him because he could probably kill someone while sitting and drinking a cup a tea….

Suddenly a sound, the sound of many marching feet caught Duo's ear. He glanced quickly at Solo and knew he had heard it too. With a nod, Solo turned running off quickly before anyone had a word. He apologized to Hilde as he pushed her to the side and was out the door. Duo looked at them all, not sure how to deal with this. No, this wasn't the time for this. He just had to wait until Solo came-

"There's about 50 soldiers out there," Solo said popping his head back in. "They're heading this way." He was gone again and Duo gave the others a quick glance before running off after him. The others didn't hesitate to follow after him, even Heero whose dedication came before all else. Outside, Solo was standing at the center of the street, pointing his hand in the direction that the soldiers were coming from. Sure enough there were torches burning and well over fifty soldiers on the move.

"Shit, you weren't kidding," Duo said standing beside Solo. They wouldn't stand a chance against that many…not unless he called on Shinigami. He wouldn't dare do that…. He found it odd though, as soon as Solo had appeared, Shinigami had ceased talking. Maybe he wasn't so confident after all…or maybe he retreated to his cross. Either way, Duo was glad for it, glad for the peace.

"Trowa, go get Wufei. We're leaving." As Trowa left to follow his orders, Duo just turned a dirty look on Heero.

"You have to be kidding me! They're going to burn the bar down! We can't just leave like that!"

Heero just gave him a glare back, already starting to untie Wing from the post. "Then I suggest you tell them to leave now while they can. You can stay here if you want, but we're leaving with or without you." Duo just stared at him as he jumped up onto the back of Wing. Could the man be so heartless? Fuck, was Duo going to lose another home?! He clenched his hands at his sides in anger, turning away from Heero as he spoke to Solo.

"Solo, could you go tell everyone about what's happening then help them evacuate? I have to take care of something."

"What are you planning?" Solo said, the uncertainty clear in his voice. As Duo started to move away, Solo grabbed his arm keeping him from walking away. With a sigh, Duo looked down quickly, his bangs covering his eyes hiding them from view, hiding what he was feeling from his friend.

"I won't kill them…. As much as I want to make them pay for what they did to Maxwell Church…I won't kill them. If I did…I'd be like Shinigami…. I'll just slow them down then catch up later, ok?" He wouldn't allow Solo to respond, pulling away quickly as he started at a run towards the soldiers. This was his problem, he had to take care of it. He didn't know if him being at the bar made the soldiers want to burn it or not. If it wasn't, then it was sure coincidence that both Maxwell Church and the bar were targeted. He didn't glance back, only hoping that Solo did what he asked. It was time for him to show the Maxwell power. As he was running, Scythe formulated from the shadows of an alleyway, quickly moving beside him at a run as they started their attack. The soldiers were surprised at first, not knowing they were going to be attacked, especially by one man and his panther. Scythe took advantage of the surprise, jumping and taking down the first man with a bite to the neck. Well…Duo wasn't allowed to kill…Scythe was another story all together.

Duo made sure to keep his dagger secure then in one hand, his other hand waving around in a circle in front of him. With a few whispered words, a mist appeared around them, and everything became shrouded in it. Duo was capable of seeing clearly, not so much by sight, but by his senses. He could hear when the enemy was moving and so moved to counter those sloppy attacks. He didn't even glance over, but hearing the sudden sound of metal he took it to mean that Scythe had transformed into his other form. Yes, Scythe had two forms, one he favored more than the other. He was no normal panther, something Duo learned quickly in his travels.

There was a whoosh sound behind him of a swinging sword and he turned around knocking the man back against a wall before he could try again. The fog was starting to dissipate and Duo quickly started up another spell. It caused the weapons in the hands of his enemies to burn hotly causing them to drop them to the ground. The swords clattered on the ground, a sound that sounded like chimes to the ear. Once the sword left the hand, it cooled instantly. The sound of a scream was heard again as another was cut down, then another and another by Scythe.

"These guys are demons!" One of the soldiers yelled. They were starting to panic now. Duo probably would too if he'd had to fight against Scythe or face unknown powers. Hell, any normal person would…except Heero…whom he was very mad with right now. Grumbling something, Duo held his hand up. Suddenly a strong wind was blowing past him. He didn't move though, not being effected by the wind as it got stronger pushing the soldiers back before they were sent flying. Scythe was unaffected too for one reason or another. As the winds died down, Duo glanced over at Scythe who was staring down the empty street.

For a human form, Scythe was pretty attractive, long deep black hair flowing down his back, stopping just before it even touched the ground. It was always lose, but it never appeared to be tangled or unruly. His eyes were still the same yellow hue, somehow seeming to hold more knowledge than anyone alive. His clothes were foreign but very colorful, almost like robes that hung down on his body. His weapon wasn't a sword, but something like a long staff or a spear. Oddly though, his weapon seemed to change from one thing to another. From what Duo knew of he had at least two or three different types. He wasn't sure, it was rare when he got to see the other's human form. And yes, the little round cat ears and the long black tail did make him look cute. Someone would actually think he was harmless…what a mistake that would be.

Suddenly Scythe looked at him, and Duo perked up listening to what he had to say. "…Yeah I know I have a knack for getting into trouble lately. Thanks for watching out for me again though. Hm?" He looked away glancing back towards the inn. It was silent meaning that most people, if not everyone was already out of the inn. Heero and his group were gone as well, though Solo was still there, waiting on him on his horse. "Yeah, I guess they did leave me." He smiled over at Scythe who had just transformed back into his panther form. "So will you lead me to him…I mean them?" As Scythe moved closer, Duo reached down petting him behind the ears and laughing lightly as he got a purr in return. "Really? You'll lead me to them? Thanks, I owe you one. I'll meet you outside the city, ok?" He could only hope they were ok. He remembered the last time Heero faced a monster…he didn't even scratch it. Right then their only protection was Quatre, and he didn't even know what he was doing.

Scythe ran off quickly and Duo moved, running in the opposite direction towards the inn. Someone was going to find those dead bodies and question what had happened. He didn't doubt they would return to the inn again…it was best if everyone were gone from there for a while, a long while. "Howard is not going to like this," Duo mumbled to himself.

"How did it go?" Solo asked and Duo just shrugged his shoulders before he jumped up onto the horse provided for him. He just hoped he knew what he was doing.

"Things went well, Scythe killed a few, we need to get going now." At receiving an admonishing look from Solo, Duo grinned sheepishly, rubbing behind his head. "You said I couldn't kill, you didn't say Scythe couldn't." The smile fell as he turned his horse around, in the direction he was sure Heero must have taken. "We need to go after them. Heero and the others, I mean."

"Why bother? That guy obvious doesn't want you around."

"Well…they have no defenses…and even if he is a prick…the others have always been nice to me, and I don't want them to get hurt." He clenched his hands around the reigns and giving Solo his most determined look. "I've already lost people I consider important to me…and I had lost you for so long until you found me…I don't want to lose anymore people…especially because of me. If they died, it would be my fault." He knew he was trembling, reliving so much, but he forced himself to keep control.

Solo was silent a moment before his nodded his head with a sigh. "Though I disagree about everything being your fault, I know you won't listen to me anyway." He smiled suddenly turning his horse around to face the direction Duo's horse was facing. "Ok then, let's go play protectors!"

Duo smiled at him, overjoyed to know his friend wasn't going to back down. "You really have made my day, pal." He whipped the reigns once and the horse took off suddenly down the path making Duo yelp as he tried to control the thing. Solo caught up quickly, taking the reigns away with a wink as he started to lead him out of the city. The gesture made Duo feel happy if a little embarrassed. He couldn't even ride his own horse correctly. What would he do without Solo? He didn't even what to know. He could only hope that he and Heero would settle their differences peacefully. That got Duo thinking about earlier.

::FLASHBACK::

"H-how?! How is it that you're alive?!" Duo was still clinging onto Solo as they were still sitting on the bed of the room. After Heero's abrupt entry, things had finally calmed down. It had left Duo shaking…to see Heero respond like that. He was going to question him about that later though. Right now, his attention was on Solo. How was the man he saw die with his own eyes alive?

"Heh, I'm not really sure myself," Solo said leaning back on the bed causing Duo to follow along with him. The braided elf boy smiled as his head came nestled against Solo's chest. He had missed this, being so close to his best friend. He actually rubbed his face against Solo's shirt. His scent…it was the same. "I just woke up one day in this house and the man that owned it said he had found me passed out on the ground barely alive, so he took me in."

He frowned slightly after that, reaching down and petting the top of Duo's head. "By then you were gone. I can't even remember what had happened then. I just knew I had to find you. That's what I've been spending my years doing…and I finally found you."

Duo smiled at that, letting his eyes slip closed as he kicked his feet slightly against the side of the bed making it shake. "Shinigami's alive," Duo said suddenly, frowning now. "I mean…he lives inside of me…partly."

Solo's hand stilled on top of his head, obviously taking this new information in before he started moving his hand again. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…it's not something I can fully control." He sat up suddenly, looking down at Solo as he leaned on an elbow to keep his balance. "You remember the cross? Well…Shinigami's soul resides in it. And…I used the cross." The last part came out quietly, but it was loud enough for the other elf to hear.

"You did what?!" Solo was up quickly, holding Duo's shoulders and shaking him. "You can't use the cross! Besides being forbidden, it's dangerous!"

"I know that!" Duo growled, pushing the hands away from him roughly. "At the time it couldn't be helped! If I hadn't done it, you would have been killed!" He reached his hands up covering his eyes and rocking slightly, trying to get himself under control. "It did kill you. I killed you. It…took over my body…it made me….do….." He stood up suddenly with a sigh. "I think we should check downstairs with the others. They might be waiting on me."

"I guess so," Solo said silently standing from the bed. Duo started to go out the door but was pulled back into a hug, feeling the other's chest against his back. Solo's chin came to rest on Duo's shoulder, and Duo couldn't help but lean back against him, feeling comforted. "What's past, is past," Solo said quietly in his ear. "I don't care what happened back then, only now matters to me. You're my best friend and I love you. I don't want you to blame yourself for this anymore."

"Solo…." Duo wasn't a big crier, but hearing those words, the sincerity behind it, he thought he just might cry again. What did people expecting? He hadn't seen his best friend since he was little, someone he thought was dead…but now was alive. "I love you too. You're my best friend…I don't want to lose you again." He smiled looking off to the side, his hands lightly holding the other's arms.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

::ENDFLASH::

"So which way are we supposed to be going?" Solo's voice broke Duo from his thoughts and he shook his head before he laughed pointing down at Scythe just up ahead.

"Follow the panther." At the look growing in Solo's eyes, Duo had to shake his head quickly. "No no, he's harmless…to friends anyway," he added as an afterthought. "Scythe's going to lead us to them. He's really good with this kind of thing."

"Heh, and here I thought you named your dagger Scythe. I didn't know it was an actually living creature…. Ok then, lead the way panther….thingy!" Scythe turned around and started off, leading the others to follow him. He glanced over his shoulder at Duo and the other frowned slightly, not giving a reply to whatever had been said. Did he really want to answer something like that?

TBC…

End part 11. I had fun typing up this one. I especially ::thinks:: Had fun typing up this one. ::blinks:: I like Scythe's human look. I found it sexy though I probably didn't describe it at best. Making Solo pop up was fun too. Heero's not too happy about it obviously. Eee! I know Trowa and Quatre and Wufie-boy dun get too much play in this yet, but I have plans for them in the future. Anyway part 12 should be up so yeah…more! And maybe one day I'll make it so you can hear what it is Scythe is really saying.


	12. Spellcaster 12

Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: I'm still a lazy bastard, whoohoo! Changed to rated R just in case it starts to get too violent later on. That and being Rated R is cool. Though being rated NC-17 is far cooler. :snickers:

Author's comments: More Merry X-mas multi-chapter update!

Story note:

"_Yappity yap yap_" Mental conversation.

Duo has a nice ass mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 12

"So if it's really a curse that's been causing all of this…why place Zechs as the blame?" Somehow Heero knew that someone was going to ask that question…somehow he knew it would be either Quatre or Wufei. No, it just had to be Trowa this time, another one of his childhood friends. How it he ended up having to going on a journey with two of his best friends since childhood? And just how all of this ended up going about? It wasn't like he asked to be the one to go. Treize purposely selected, said he had skills and strategy the others couldn't even come close to.

"It might all be a trap," Heero said sounding like he could care less. He knew the others were probably looking at him weird. Hell, who knew if he really did see that black cloaked figure or not? "But if we had stayed at the castle, we wouldn't have achieved anything. The queen is stubborn and so are her people."

"So is using Zechs just a ploy to cover up what's really happening?" Wufei frowned slightly, and Heero made a mental note to be happy that he wasn't wearing that damn armor anymore. He was wearing more loosely fitting clothing this time, which would be good for moving around. Looking around slightly, Heero noticed realized just how dark it was. The looming of the trees and the threats of monsters just past them didn't help his uneasiness. The light from the full moon and the stars did help him to see though.

"It could be. That would mean someone would be sent to investigate…someone like us." Like us…. Had someone been expecting them to come? No, all of this, it could have happened to anyone else. There wasn't anything special about them…well most of them. Heero glanced back at Quatre, making sure things were ok as well as looking him over. For having had only a simple reason for coming, the boy ended up having to go through far more ordeal than what was necessary. Why would Treize pick him to be the representative? Is there some special reasoning behind it? That was another problem, they were going to have to find some way to send word to Treize about what had happened. Maybe they would do that in the next town they got too. Heero glanced back past Quatre to Wufei again, seeing the other moving his arm like it was tense. His men needed rest or else they wouldn't be able to function if it came to a fight.

He looked up ahead again, before his eyes lit up slightly, seeing a building coming up ahead. It looked like a house, though there was no lights shining from it. It was probably abandoned since the monsters had started appearing and people started staying in town with the hopes of being protected by the guards. As they got closer, Heero detoured from the main road, heading over to the building. "We'll rest here for tonight," he said starting to climb down from Wing's back. It wasn't the most secure or inviting looking place, but for now it would do. "We'll sleep in shifts. I'll take the first watch, then Trowa, then Wufei."

"And as usual I'll be left out," Quatre said below his breath. Heero glanced at him before he started into the building. Strange, he didn't really hate the guy as much as he used to. Maybe because all his hate was focused on a certain little elf and his boyfriend.

"You don't have the proper training to know how to handle an attack. Besides, it's still our duty to protect you." Heero gave a slight glance back before he started to open the door. It was a little stiff from disuse and he had to push harder to get it to move. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to risk giving away their destination, he would have lit a torch. Since there was none anyway, he would just have to wing it. Maybe as long as he didn't think about what could be lurking inside, he would be ok. He turned around, telling the others to wait outside as he started into the building, moving slowly. He bumped into something at one point, and felt around on top of it finding it to be just a desk. There was small lantern on top as well as something to strike a fire with and he lit the lantern. It gave off a small glow but it was enough to see around the room.

The place really was in shambles, clothes littering the floor along with books and papers and pots. Someone had been in a rush when they left. Heero didn't blame them though, kicking a small shirt to the side. He was in what had to be the main room. From there, there was a small place for a kitchen and two doors, each supposedly a bedroom. He didn't see anything moving aside from a few rats and even some frogs as well. One of the frogs stared at him and he glared in return heading off to the first bedroom. The door was open already, moonlight shining into the window over the bed. It smelt stuffy and mildew-like, not giving a very good first impression. The small toys lying around in the floor told him that this had to be a kid's room. Or maybe twins considering that there was another bed lying against the wall just beside the door. There was another lantern here but he decided one would be enough. He might take the other with him though just in case they would need it later on down the line.

Heero left that room and headed to the one right next to it. The bed was bigger here meaning it had to be either a big person sleeping there, or the parents' room. Aside from there being no toys lying around, it seemed to be in the exact same shape as the other room…plus a gaping hole in the roof. Maybe it was better if they slept outside. Heero headed back out the front door and stood at the entryway looking at his friends. "There are two rooms, three beds. The rooms look terrible but the beds are useable." He passed the lantern to Trowa allowing the other to lead the way inside. "I'll come wake you in a couple of hours." Trowa nodded slightly taking the lantern and glanced at Quatre before he headed inside. Wufei scowled slightly but followed them inside, leaving Heero outside alone in the dark to make sure nothing happened. The moonlight really did help to see and he moved to sit down against the building. Wing walked over to him and nudged him lightly with his nose and Heero couldn't help but smiled a little as he petted him.

He'll meet me at the foot of the mountains.

Who was he exactly? He had seen no features, only felt the darkness that radiated from him. It was obvious that he was evil, yet he trusted that he would meet him there at the mountains. Maybe it was because he was the real cause for this. Besides…if he had wanted them dead, he could easily have killed them, right? Heero glanced down at his sword, the metal of the hilt gleaming slightly in the moonlight. This sword had saved his life many times in the past, and he didn't thought it would do so in the future as well. But the glowing, the feeling it sent into him when it sensed danger…that was new. Ever since he met Duo.

Duo...

He narrowed his eyes slightly thinking about the other boy. Why did he hate him so much? No…it wasn't him he hated…. Solo…the man that had been gone for who knows how many years…and now he was back…and alive. How was he alive? Had Duo someone read things wrong back then? The cross…he did know about the cross. But for some reason Heero really couldn't find himself trusting Solo…that and whenever he was around, the sword would to start warm up. It had to be responding to him, who else would it respond to? Maybe he would have been better off dead.

As he heard a sound from the house he looked towards the door and saw Quatre come out. He quickly lost interest and looked away off towards the forest, mentally finding something else of interest. That didn't stop the blonde boy though as he started walking over towards Heero

"Sorry…I couldn't sleep," Quatre said as he slid down to sit beside Heero.

Heero glanced over at him, taking in the big blue eyes that seemed tired after the ordeal of the day. Afterall, he had come close to being killed. "It's fine," Heero said quietly and the blonde smiled pulling his knees up to his chest and glancing upwards, towards the sky.

"The moon is beautiful tonight," he said before he cast a glance at Heero. "But I can sense that you don't seem to be enjoying it much." As Heero snorted at that, Quatre frowned before he sighed. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"

Heero closed his eyes, debating whether to tune the other out or not. He doubt he'd win in this though and folded his arms, making himself comfortable for what would probably be a long talk. "I could care less about him."

"But you are, I can feel it." He rested a hand on Heero's shoulder smiling softly even though the other couldn't see it. "I'm sure Duo's ok, he's with his friend now, somewhere. I'm sure they must be together out there."

"I don't trust him," Heero said quickly but lowly, his eyes opening slightly as he let them rest on the ground in front of him. Wing nudged him lightly and reflexively he reached up petting him. "I don't trust Solo."

"Why?"  
"…." That was a good question. Aside from coming back from the dead suddenly, why didn't he trust him? Why couldn't he trust him as openly as Duo did? And why did it bother him that Duo trusted him so much? It wasn't like he cared, he hardly even knew the elf…besides he was a thief…a sexy thief, but a thief nonetheless. As those indigo eyes started to appear before him, he shook his head quickly trying to dislodge it and the smile Duo always gave in his presence. Shit, did he really miss him! "Go back to bed," Heero said standing up to his feet.

"Heero…." When the other said nothing to him, Quatre sighed and stood up to his feet, brushing his clothes off before he looked at him again. "I hope you'll admit to your feelings one day before it's too late."

"I could say the same to you." They both knew whom it was he was talking about. He was sure Quatre gave a blush at that, but he tried not to pay attention to that.

"Do you want me to wake Trowa up?"

"Nah, it's still too early." Heero petted Wing's nose before he moved to the back, to where Howard had packed their food for him. "Just go to sleep." It was a few seconds before he heard the other moving, but he was trying to keep his thoughts on the pack in front of him, and on trying to keep his hands from shaking. His body had gotten tense right after what Quatre had said to him. Just what did he mean by that? Admit what feelings! That he might actually like having Duo for a friend! "They're making this hard on me," he whispered to Wing, and the horse just snorted looking at him. Heero just gave him a mock glare, rubbing him behind his ears lightly. "Don't give me that look, I don't need it from you too." The look lightened and he glanced up to the sky, staring up at the moon and the stars twinkling at him. He wondered how Duo was doing now? He could only hope he'd left that bastard of a friend behind as well.

* * *

"How long have you known Scythe?" 

"Hm?" Duo blinked glancing over at Solo, just now registering what he had said. "Oh! Well…I don't know, I sort kind of met him right after you supposedly died." He frowned slightly, petting the horse as Solo continued to guide him by the reigns. "He's like a guardian angel to me. He protects me and guides me and he's promised always to be there for me." At a word from Scythe, Duo chuckled slightly. "Don't be so modest, it's the truth after all."

"How is it that you know what he's saying?" Solo looked genuinely amazed and Duo couldn't help but to feel appreciated.

"Well, I'm not really sure. Scythe is the only animal I can talk to. He's not exactly normal himself anyway." He quieted down after that, thinking it wasn't the best of ideas to say what it was that made Scythe different. People didn't need to know that there was a panther that could shape shift into a human. Duo sighed, leaning down and resting his elbows lightly on the horse's neck as he rested his head between his palm, staring at Solo's back. "I wonder why Heero hates you so much. You're a nice guy, you're cute, and you'd never let anyone down."

"Oh, so I'm cute, am I?" Solo asked, a little smirk on his lips as he looked over his shoulder at Duo.

Duo felt a blush creep to his cheeks and cleared his throat turning away from that look. "That's now exactly how I meant it. I mean," he frowned again. "Heero's cute too but he's such a bastard. Can you believe he called me a thief! And he just barely even believes I'm an elf! I mean look…I have the ears! The ears, man, the ears!"

Solo laughed softly, slowing his horse down so that he was capable of riding beside Duo. As the other looked over at him, he reached down taking hold of Duo's hand, seriousness in his eyes now. "How long have you been stealing? We had enough gold to last us a lifetime."

Duo bit his lips, pulling his hand away slowly as he looked away again. "Well…when I saw you lying there dead…I panicked. I didn't know what to do so I…ran…didn't take a damn thing with me. I was only what, five or six at the time so I didn't know what I was doing. Scythe found me huddled down in the woods and he talked to me and stuff. I was freaked out at first, but I've come to trust him with my life. Since I didn't really have a home, he told me about the church in the city…how he knew about it, I don't know. Probably from people passing by in the forest talking about it and stuff. Anyway, they allowed me to stay there of course, and I became part of the orphanage family with Sister Helen and Father Maxwell. But since they were beggars…they hardly received much…so I decided to steal money for them. I mean…the kids were starving." He played with his fingers slightly, almost nervous as this was his first time telling this story…not to mention it kept bringing him such painful memories of Sister Helen and Father Maxwell. "So I would go out to the forest…and steal from the rich sobs that didn't deserve the money. Or, I would still from crooks who had probably stoles from someone else. But sometimes…" He got quiet after that, not sure how else to continue it. A comforting hand landed on his shoulder and he smiled resting his own over it, looking once more at Solo. "Sometimes…Shinigami would try to take over. He would influence me, but at the time he wasn't talking. I could just sense his presence inside my mind, could feel sudden urges to kill. Though right now…I don't sense him, and I don't know why."

At Solo's nod for him to continue, he took another sigh. "That hadn't been my first time using the cross…I've used it three times now." At the disapproving look, Duo looked away again, ruefully smiling as they moved on following Scythe. Though the panther didn't look back, it was obvious that he was listening, just by the way his ears were turned up. "Once I used it to save you, the second time…was for foolish reason…I thought I could save the people of some town…they were being attacked by so many…and I summoned him, hoping he would save them. Instead…he killed everyone there…and I had to watch it all through my own eyes…I've seen things I wish I'd never seen again." He chuckled slightly, but it came out as a dark sound, a sound he cut short as he continued. "The third time I didn't learn my lesson…that was when I used it to save Heero." He smiled slightly turning his head up to look at the sky to the leaves of the trees as they followed the trail and Scythe's lead. "He's the only to survive Shinigami's wrath…besides you that is."

"Why would you even bother saving a guy like that?" There was actual genuine question in Solo's voice and Duo shrugged a bit ignoring the look Scythe had passed his way.

"Because he saved me before…when the soldiers tried to kill me…ok well it wasn't saving since I could have taken care of it myself, but I don't know…he did try to help…" A thoughtful look passed over Duo's features as he pulled his braid over his shoulder giving it a light tug. "But he's really a sweet…nice…ok interesting guy, you just gotta get him to open up." There was that smile again, a little one that was portraying some hidden emotion. Did he feel something for the antisocial crabby rude inconsiderate leader? There was friendship yes, ever after their little argument. Maybe he should apologize to him…or at least talk to him when he found him. Suddenly he perked up listening to Scythe. "They're up ahead? Thanks buddy!" He paused in thought, before he spoke again. "I wonder how Hilde and Howard are doing. I'm kinda worried about them. I just hope they don't decide to go back to the inn."

"I told them they should head someplace safer for a while," Solo said. "Hilde agreed with me though Howard was complaining."

Duo laughed lightly. "That's Howard, he won't give up on his little bar no matter what. I'm sure it'll be ok, but I don't wanna take any chances." As Scythe responded Duo's eyes light up in happiness. "Thanks pal! So you'll escort them to Treize's kingdom then come back as soon as possible. Hm? No, I'll be ok , don't worry about me. I have friends that'll help me if needed!" Scythe didn't seem to sure about leaving Duo by himself, and actually hesitated before he ran off, disappearing quickly into the darkness of the forest. Again Scythe had asked him something…something he couldn't answer, and it made him clenched the hair of the horse's head slightly. Solo was looking at him, and Duo smiled covering up the feeling.

By now though, they were seeing a building up ahead along with horses standing around. They must have been pretty trained considering they weren't wandering around everywhere. It was a relaxing seen…but Duo didn't like the feelings it was sending his way. Something wasn't right about this place…. As they were getting closer, they saw Trowa standing by one of the horses, petting its head. That must be Arms. Trowa was alerted to someone being there and started to reach for something before he saw who it was.

"Duo…"

"Hey, yeah sorry we're late," Duo said rubbing behind his head sheepishly with a grin on his face. "Everyone's safe so we decided to accompany you. Where are the others?"

Trowa tilted his head back towards the building before he spoke. "They're inside sleeping. Heero just went in so he's probably still awake. Just be careful, there's a lot of stuff on the floor."

Duo nodded his head then turned looking at Solo as he slid off the black horse. "Could you wait here a moment? I need to go talk to him."

"Sure," Solo said giving him a reassuring smile. "I'd like to be on good terms with him, if I could." He looked at Trowa who was watching him, and held out a hand to him. "Name's Solo."

"Trowa…Barton," Trowa said reaching out and shaking the hand lightly.

"Oh by the way," Duo whispered into Solo's ear, "they don't know about Scythe or that I'm an elf or that I have powers…I think it'll be better if people don't know you're one too. People…don't take to kindly to magic and elves these days." Solo nodded slightly and Duo pulled back winking slightly before he noticed Trowa watching him again. A light blush actually tinted Duo's cheeks before he turned and headed inside in search of Heero. And Trowa wasn't kidding; it really was a mess inside! That didn't help the bad feeling to go away either.

"_Someone's feeling a little spooked, huh? Want me to…kill it?"_ It was him! Shinigami was back again, and haunting him.

What are you doing here! I thought you were gone! Duo mental thought the words, knowing from previous times that he would hear him. Was this the bad feeling he was getting! Why was he back! Why now!

"Just because I'm not talking to you doesn't mean I'm not here. Did you think you could get rid of me so easily? Shame on you, little pawn. I thought you were smarting than that." It was mocking and filled with dark humor the way he said it.

What do you want with me?

"That's not your concern, since I will have what I want soon anyway. Two more times. That's all you have before I take over your body. You won't be able to control it. You should give up now while it's still painless."

Shut up! Didn't we have this conversation before! I don't have to listen to you! Duo had bared his teeth in anger…why couldn't he just be done with this!

"Oh you will…trust me, you have no choice." The laugh again. That damn laugh, always in his head._"Pay attention, lover boy is looking at you."_

The laugh again. That damn laugh, always in his head. 

Sure enough, Heero was looking in his direction. A quick glance around and Duo found himself in a bedroom. There were two beds. One was occupied by a sleeping Quatre, the other was empty as Heero wasn't in it. He was by the window, a hand against the broken glass as he must have been thinking about something or staring out at the darkness of the forest surrounding the little house. Either way, it was a beautiful image…minus the annoyed look in Heero's eyes.

"What do you want," Heero said softly, trying not to wake up Quatre but at the same time portraying all his anger in those simple words. Duo bit his lips, preparing to open his mouth and speak, but instead he gestured with his head for Heero to follow him as he went out the room. He could hear the floorboards underneath the other's feet as he moved and knew he was behind him. He didn't stop until he was in what must have been a kitchen in its past. There were still pots and silverware lying around, not even put up in whatever rush these people were in to get away. Whether they made it or not, no one would ever know. All there was now was darkness, dirt, and the glare of a pair of cobalt eyes staring at him.

With a sigh, Duo rested his hands on his hips giving his best glare in return, being covered in the moonlight's glow from the kitchen window. He wasn't in the mood for hostility tonight. "Look, whatever this is going on between us, we need to talk about it. For instance…why do you hate Solo so much?" This was something Duo was really curious about.

_"Yes, begging for answers, are we? Could there be rivalry? Maybe they both just want you dead."_ Duo felt his eye twitch as Shinigami spoke, but he didn't respond to him, forcing himself to keep his focus on Heero. This was important

"I don't trust him…just like I don't trust you," Heero said simply, his eyes turning away for a brief moment before looking back at Duo. "A person doesn't just come back from the dead…how do you even know it's the real thing?" Is that what this was really about?

"Oh so mr. 'I don't believe in magic and elves' is trying to tell me what's real and what's not? Tsk, just face it, you're jealous of him. Admit it, it's true."

That evoked a response, Heero's eyes narrowing in spite. "I'm not jealous of a stupid elf that isn't even alive."

"Well whether you are or not, he's coming with us! I don't want you being mean to him either! He's my friend, you should respect that!"

There was a sneer from Heero. "A friend, or a lover? You sure were clinging to him pretty hard when I saw you both, weren't you?"

Duo's eyes widened at that, and he opened his mouth to answer, but nothing was coming out. What could this mean? "We're…not lovers, Heero," Duo said quietly, though he was looking away now, the anger dying out. "Even if we were, it's not your decision to decide who it is I'm allowed to be with."

"Whatever, just keep it away from me and out of my sight. I don't want to see your sickness."

The disgust in Heero's eyes fueled Duo's anger again and he felt his hand touching against his dagger, clenching around the hilt of it wanting to attack Heero so badly and at the same time feeling a pain inside at having heard the other's words. "I don't know who you think you are trying to control me. You must don't realize just what I'm capable of doing to you." There was a mixture of feelings now, some his own and some he sensed must be coming from Shinigami as his free hand moved resting over the cross.

_"My my, does the little pawn feel like having a temper tantrum?. Tell me, what do you think he would do if he learned about your feelings towards the male gender? He'd probably try to kill you, or worse, abandon you. But do you think he's capable of loving another man? Especially an elf that tried to kill him? You should just give him to me and I will teach him what it is like to have a male lover."_ Shinigami cackled and Duo growled slightly, clenching his hands to his ears.

"Just fucking shut up! Why can't you ever be quiet like I ask you! Why do you keep tormenting me!"

"Duo!" He could hear Heero's voice and felt the other's hands on his shoulders. At the touch, he looked up at Heero, freezing where he was. Despite the words Heero had said, the touch was tender and comforting. The laughter in his head stopped and Duo felt his body shivering slightly. Something bad was happening, he just knew it. Heero was talking to him, but he wasn't listening now, his eyes trained on Heero's sword. It was glowing slightly, something Duo was sure he'd remembered seeing once before. Without thinking, he reached out touching the sword, but yelped as his fingers came into contact with it. It burned!

"Even his sword doesn't like you. Pitiful soul."

Duo sucked slightly on his fingers before his eyes frozen on something. Heero seemed to have noticed it too, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword as he turned around, standing protectively in front of Duo as the apparition there floated. It was in the shape of a small girl, dress tattered slightly, her dead eyes looking at them. She was glowing a soft blue color, the same color as the sword. Though she was smaller than Heero and Duo, only coming up to their waist, her body language made it seem as though she was older, her stance full of confidence.

_"Interesting…so she exist…"_ Shinigami spoke though he didn't sound all that interested in it.

_Who is she?_ Duo thought, hoping that maybe Shinigami would cooperate with him and tell him. He was lucky this time, which meant that Shinigami felt it not to be a threat to him…pity

_"She is a soul of the sword…is it her kind that gives the sword it's power. By luck, he found her. Souls of the dead, innocence's spirit, they all converge into one to create a greater power...they can be found anywhere. Only certain chosen beings can control them…meaning he is a special creature…that I will have…. She's responding to hostility…meaning she senses me, interesting,."_

_What do you mean hostility?_ Duo got his answer quickly, the girl's body radiating more brightly as tendrils of light shot from her body, directly at Duo. Heero was still standing in the way at the time and didn't move out of the way in time. Apparently there was no need to since the tendrils went through his body, not leaving a mark. With an eep, Duo just barely dove out of the way, the blue tendrils bouncing off the ground and coming after him. Quickly rolling to his feet, he started running, heading out of the building. The lights were still chasing after him, even once he was outside. He saw Trowa and Solo staring at him in shock, but ran past them, growling slightly as he pulled his dagger free, he was going to have to fight this thing. As he held his dagger ready in his and, he turned around quickly changing direction and ran straight at it. The dagger came up and he moved quickly, cutting into the beast only to find to his surprise that it went right through.

"_Oh, did I mention that psychical attacks don't work against them?" _Shinigami said mockingly.

_And why are you just now telling me this!_ Duo yelled out as one of the tendrils wrapped around his ankle pulling him down. He could feel it burning into his skin, thinking only slightly in wonder at how such an innocent light could hurt so much. _Fine, if physical attacks don't work then I'll use magical ones._ He knew his concentration was being messed with, the pain in his leg excruciating. He saw the others of his little group running to aid him, weapons drawn out as they were coming closer. Though they used their weapons it did nothing to the tendrils flying about, only going through them just as Duo's had. Something blinded his eyes and he closed them quickly before he just squinted slightly trying to see. It was the little girl, hovering over his prone body on the ground, her little tendril pets flying around her. There didn't seem to be any emotions in her eyes as suddenly the other tendrils were moving, clasping themselves around Duo's limbs, squeezing and yet burning him at the same time causing him to yell out at the pain. With his eyes clenched shut, he barely moved his fingers, quickly saying a spell in hopes that it would work. As he was saying the spell, the pain got worse to the point that he had to quit saying it. He felt dizzy and sick, his body aching and burning hotly from the blue light. Just what was it that was happening? Why wasn't the spell working?

"_Oh, did I forget to mention that these…beings respond to magic also? When they sense magic it makes them stronger, more lethal." _There was a smirk to the voice meaning that once again, Shinigami was enjoying this. _"Just remember, little pawn. If you die, I will take over your body…"_ As Shinigami said that, the little girl lifted a hand, preparing to do something that Duo was sure would be fatal. Oh man, why did it have to think he was a bad guy?

TBC….

That's all for part 12! And I'm sleepy as hell! Anyway, not the greatest of writing this time, the ideas just kept churning in my head and I know I didn't even get half of it out, not to mention I think they were colliding at times…and I'm sleepy as hell so I'm not paying too much attention to typing. Though, I will revise this so that by the time you read it will be fixed. But I guess that would be now instead of then…if that even makes any sense.** :edited:** Sorry if this gets weird. No matter how much I edit this chapter, the fonts and stuff start acting weird and changing things I didn't tell it to change. :sighs:


	13. Spellcaster 13

Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: After more than half a year I finally update!

Author's comments: Actually it's really been, what….a year now:blinks: That's just horrible! College really does take a lot of my time though….eh….as well as role-playing and video gaming.

Story note:

"_Yappity yap yap_" Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 13

He expected something to happen, maybe something like being stabbed by the many spiky things and being killed. He didn't expect; however, the feeling of nothing happening at all. That was the first sign Duo had to knowing that whatever was meant to happen didn't. The second was when he opened his eyes and saw Heero's focused gazed on the blue child. He looked confident, like he had everything under control. The third was the fact that those sharp spiky things that had been so close to penetrating him were now sticking inside of Heero's sword. Actually they weren't just sticking, but more like being sucked inside. Maybe the thing that shocked Duo even more was the fact that Heero didn't even seem to be bothered by this.

He realized he could move if he wanted to, but for the fact that Heero had a hand placed against his chest to keep him still, his eyes still focused on the blue child. The child for the most part didn't seem to lose any confidence as it watched Heero, hovering there over Duo's body. Its eyes lacked any emotions, just a vague stare that made Duo want to look away.

"Hurt anyone under my watch and I'll kill you," Heero said quietly, his eyes so intense they were almost glowing. The girl was definitely sparking something in him, Duo noticed. It might be that what Shinigami said about her being a power Heero could control was true. The girl didn't moved from where she was, however the tendrils of light did stop squeezing around Duo's body and limbs.

"Heero, she's-" Duo started but Heero stopped him.

"Quiet," Heero said, keeping his eyes on the girl even though he was talking to Duo. "Let me handle this."

_"Yeah," _Shinigami laughed inside of his head, bypassing the pain Duo was feeling from his burning skin, something he was forcing himself not to look at. _"Leave it to us. I doubt you'll survive your injuries."_

_I'll lived! _Duo growled out in his mind before he looked up at Heero, wincing at the pain he was feeling but focusing as best he could as he whispered to Heero, whispering because Heero was the only one that knew about Shinigami aside from Solo still. "Heero…Shinigami says she's a soul of the sword.…" He winced again, finding himself gasping out at the pain and clenching his eyes shut, trying to keep from blacking out, trying to finish what he was saying. "That…she can be controlled by…by you…. The…sword…she'll live in the sword…." He fell silent then, feeling himself blacking out then but hoping that Heero could do it. There were a couple of reasons why he wasn't allowed to die yet. He had to live for as long as he could.

"Okay…" Heero nodded his head, closing his eyes for a second before he looked at the girl in determination. Duo's words were reassuring but at the same time faulty. Heero knew that Duo didn't like to lie…however Shinigami was a different thing. Trusting Shinigami's words were different than trusting Duo's. Mainly because Heero didn't trust Shinigami with anything…so why did he trust Duo? "Release him." Heero said pointing the sword up at the girl now. The girl hesitated before she bowed her head down, the tendrils quickly retracting from Duo's body letting his unconscious form roll free.

"Duo!" Solo yelled out and started to run towards Duo's still form but when Heero turned his head slightly and looked at him, he stopped in his tracks. Normally, he wouldn't have cared but the look in Heero's eyes at the moment frightened him. He growled slightly but stayed put, staring towards Duo with a worried shift of his feet.

Heero was quick to disregard him again and turned his eyes instead back to the girl who continued to float up above them. "Return to where you belong." The girl nodded and closed her eyes glowing brightly as she was sucked into the sword. Silence filled the air, everyone holding their breath, waiting for a response from either the sword or Heero. When nothing else happened, Heero breath a sigh of relief then turned and kneeled down beside Duo, looking him over. "Duo…." The other, even unconscious, had a pained look on his face. With all the burn marks and chard skin, Heero could see why. Some injuries were minor like being slapped by a whip, while others were more immediate, oozing with blood and going almost deep enough to see the white of the bone that lay beneath.

Heero picked him up, actually looking sorry when Duo tensed up giving a little sound of pain. Every move must have hurt for him, even these little ones. "Duo, are you ok!" Solo ran over to them, slowing to a stop as he saw the injuries to his friend. "What…what the hell?" His face twisted up in confusion then anger as he glared at Heero. "What the hell happened to him!"

"She attacked him." Heero said returning his glare.

"But why!" Solo said, clenching his fist at his side. "Why did she attack him! Why didn't she attack you!"

"You know why," Heero whispered lowly, then turned his eyes away, looking at anything else but Solo or the injured beauty in his arms. "Shinigami…" That was all he had to say for Solo to understand. They had to be the only two that knew Duo's secret. Or so Heero assumed, considering that the cross did belong to Solo's family in the first place.

_This has to be Shinigami's fault._

Why else would the girl chase him? It couldn't be because Duo was an elf. Solo was one too...and it had to be assumed that they both knew magic. So logically it had to be Shinigami…something considered to be of great danger. The question was…why did she respond to Heero and the sword? What powers did this sword hold that he hadn't even discovered yet? "Quatre." The named boy looked up at his name. "Come with me," Heero said as he turned carrying Duo towards the house. Quatre seemed to hesitate, glancing over at Trowa worriedly before he followed.

"Where are you taking him!" Solo said about to follow them in but for Trowa holding him back.

"He needs to be tended too…before his wounds get infected." Heero glanced over his shoulder at Solo, pausing at the door to the building. "Or do you prefer he just die?" He didn't wait for an answer as he walked into the darkness of the house, followed by Quatre.

Solo scowled at that, pulling away from Trowa sharply, but he stayed put just allowing himself to stand there and glare at the building. "Fucking bastard…"

"Someone explain to me what the hell just happened!" Wufei yelled, demanding attention as well as answers. "What the hell _was_ that thing!"

"I don't know," Solo answered truthfully, trying to ignore the suspicious look he knew Wufei was giving him. "But Duo might know something…." Trowa was staring at him also…but then he looked away waiting for the outcome of Duo's conditions.

* * *

"Light the lanterns," Heero said moving carefully through the debris to place Duo gently on one of the twin beds. He had planned to save the lanterns for an emergency but he guessed this was emergency enough. Part of his mind kept wondering why he was helping this elf boy knowing who he was, what he was, and what he was capable of. 

_I should have let that arrogant elf have him._

But somewhere deep down, Heero knew he couldn't let Duo die. The more obvious reason being that if Duo died, then Shinigami would completely take over. Heero could not allow that. He didn't question how it was that he knew that, he just knew it to be a fact. Maybe it was because if this became a threat to Shinigami's life, Shinigami would have came through and taken Duo's body over.

_But he's not strong enough to do that yet, right?_

As Quatre lit one of the lanterns, he carried it over to where they were, being careful not to step on anything on the floor. There was still no telling what creatures were living in this mess. "How does it look?"

"Not good," Heero replied, coming out of his thoughts temporarily to look at the burns further, concerned when he came across one where he could see the bone through the wound. "They wrapped pretty tightly around him. Even in that short time, they've burned off a good deal of the skin." He frowned at that, looking away again as Duo let out another pained sound. Still, no tears spilled from Duo's closed eyes even with how much hurt he was feeling.

_He's strong._

"What do you want me to do?" Quatre asked, watching Duo carefully. By the look he was giving Duo, it was almost like he was expecting him to jump up and attack them.

"Fix him."

"Heero…he's not like a doll I can just patch back together…." Quatre sighed at the look he was given and stepped closer to the body on the bed. "But…I'll do what I can." He looked the body over, checking the wounds and finding out which ones proceeded over others for needed treatments. "I'll need water and bandages," he said looking up at Heero, swallowing but nodding his head in determination. "If you can find any medicine, that'd help too."

Heero nodded his head, happy now to be getting things done. He was on a mission now…to help Duo…. He left the room quickly, leaving Quatre to talk soothingly to Duo and help calm the boy down. He found himself a jug and carried it out to Trowa, telling the other to go fill it with water from the well not too far away. The soldier nodded his head and turned running off to take care of the task he'd been given. Turning to Wufei, Heero told the other to come with him and help find bandages and medicines. Wufei nodded his head, but there was a look of worry to his eyes.

_So he does care…_

Heero shook his head, glancing at Solo before he looked off towards where Trowa had run off. "He'll be fine."

"I know," Solo said, giving him a look that said 'if you hurt him, I'll kill you.' Heero couldn't blame him though…if he'd cared that much about someone, he'd be just as worried.

_But you do care about someone…you care about Du-_

He shook the thought away quickly, and turned heading back into the house. "We could use your help in finding some bandages. Since this place is a mess, we could use all the help we can get." Solo's eyebrows lifted in surprise at that but he nodded his head and started following Heero inside. Sure, they were still rivals in getting Duo's attention, but for now…they could work on mutual terms. They'd work together to help cure Duo's pains.

* * *

"There," Quatre said, brushing his hands together as he finished tying down the last bandage. Luckily they'd found a good deal of makeshift bandages though the medicine was hard to come by. There really wasn't enough of it…so they had to do what they could with what they had and hope it was enough. "I don't know if it'll be enough to help or not. We'll just have to wait and see." He looked over at Heero than at Solo, the only other two in the room. Trowa and Wufei had been sent back out to keep watch again. Even if it was a quiet night, there were still chances of monsters being around. 

Quatre looked back at Duo again, a mixture of feelings showing in his face. Even now, he kept getting bad vibes from him. It was like there were two different people inside of him trying to break out. One was the happy, cheerful boy he seemed to know well…while the other was demented and menacing giving Quatre chills. What were they really up against here? Was it really a good idea to be taking Duo with them?

"Something wrong?" Quatre looked up at Solo startled and frowned shaking his head.

"I-it's nothing," Quatre said carefully. Solo was another enigma he couldn't solve. Normally Quatre was able to feel emotions from everyone. It didn't matter what type of emotion it was, he could sense them all. But with Solo…sometimes the feeling of emotions would disappear completely. It didn't make sense. Why would it just suddenly vanish like that? "I guess I'm just exhausted." He smiled up at Solo and the other returned the smile, patting him on the shoulder.

"You did a lot of work in such a little amount of time. You deserve a rest."

"Yeah." Quatre gave a little laugh then glanced over at Heero. He was watching the two of then intently, well mostly Solo. It made Quatre feel bad for him. Right now he was having a mixture of feelings, some of them unreadable at the moment. The ones that stood out most were envy…jealously…anger. Why did Heero hate Solo so much? The answer was right there in front of them. Duo. Maybe Heero found Duo to be a good friend…someone that Solo was trying to steal away? Maybe there was something deeper? Solo's feelings towards Heero seemed to harbor on the same track. Hopefully, the two of them could resolve this somehow.

"We need to get moving," Trowa said popping his head in suddenly. "The horses are getting restless…there's something coming." At Heero's nod, Trowa ducked out again. Heero turned his attention to the two of them then pushed off from the wall he'd been leaning on and started over towards them.

"We have to leave now," Heero said starting for Duo's bed only to be blocked by Solo who stood in his way.

"We can't leave yet! He hasn't even healed!" Solo glared at him.

Heero glared back at him, not backing down. "If we stay here, he won't have a chance to heal." Still Solo wouldn't back down. This was getting to be too much. Quatre could actually feel the anger radiating between the two, could almost see it. Both were right, but right now Heero's reasoning presided over Solo's. They needed to get Duo out of there if there was to ever be a chance to heal. They needed better medicines, a real doctor, something they couldn't get if they stayed here, monster or not.

"Solo…." Quatre rested a hand on his shoulder, trying to reason with him. "It won't be wise to stay here. I've done the best I could but we need more professional healers and better medicines. We can't get that if we stay here. We have to move."

Solo stared down at Duo for a moment, lips down in a frown as he let the words bake in. Finally he sighed, his shoulders slumping down as he closed his eyes. "You're right. What was I thinking?" Suddenly he turned his glare on Heero again, just daring him to challenge his next words. "But he's riding with me! I don't trust you…." Heero just shrugged at that, though Quatre was able to see more to it, knew Heero didn't want to go along with it. Why…why so much fighting between their little ragtag team? Why…over something that felt so dangerous?

* * *

It was going on two days now. Things didn't seem to be spiraling into better territory either. In fact here they were still riding, hoping to get to a city soon. There was no way they could go back to the Sanc Kingdom, not with everyone there waiting to take their heads off. They had to keep moving, hope they got to a city soon. Duo wasn't getting any better, in fact just recently he's broken into delirium. From time to time he'd mumble something incoherent then thrash around to the point they had to stop riding for a time until they could get him to settle down. His body seemed cold even though he was soaked through with sweat, sitting leaning against Solo as they rode. Heero was moving the team as fast as he could, determined to get to a city…to some place where help could be gotten. 

It almost surprised Trowa the intensity of Heero's eyes. He'd known Heero for a long time, had fought beside him numerous times. You could almost consider them best friends…or best acquaints since they never talked much, just did the job. But in all the time Trowa had known Heero, he'd never seen him so set on trying to protect someone…to take care of him. What was it that Duo was sparking in him? Whatever it was, it had to be something good to make the antisocial soldier want to save him numerous times.

Trowa glanced back behind him at Solo. The guy looked pretty tired. He didn't blame him, what with trying to hold up an unconscious body and guide the horse he was on at the same time. Every time any of them offered up help, he said no. He didn't want anyone near Duo…it wasn't surprising really. You can't just trust someone you've never even known before, especially with your best friend from years ago. Heero acted like he didn't care, but he did tend to glance back frequently and frown. He was the one guiding Duo's horse as he rode Wing, leading through the forest. There was still enough food left in the bags packed by Howard to last them another three days if necessary. The problem was that Duo didn't have that long to live. They needed help and quickly.

Trowa glanced over at Quatre and when the boy looked at him, he gave a reassuring smile to him. He saw the other boy's cheeks redden slightly and couldn't help thinking how cute he really looked. Did Quatre even know what he made Trowa feel? Maybe it was better he didn't know. Trowa was a soldier, a killer…he wouldn't be able to settle down. That was not to mention the fact that they were both guys. And apparently by the way Quatre dressed, of different status. He heard a bird up in the trees and his eyes narrowed in confusion as he saw Quatre's eyes widen suddenly.

"I…I know where we're at…" Quatre said before swallowing and looking around at his surrounding. "Yeah, I know where this is!"

Heero stopped his horse, turning Wing to the side so that he was facing Quatre, the true weight of his tiredness really showing through now. He'd been running on willpower alone…he was so strong. "Where are we?" Heero asked Quatre. Trowa just watched though deep down he was noticing Heero's changes. He was starting to accept Quatre as one of them…as well as starting to open up to everyone. Was this Duo's doing? Trowa glanced back at the unconscious boy then returned his attention to Quatre.

"We're…in my home country," Quatre said picking around his words carefully. By the sound of his words, he didn't sound all too happy to be home again. He went silent for a moment then realized what he was doing and shook his head smiling up at them. "We can get help there. Come on!" He rode off past them, Heero not even getting a word in before he just sighed and followed. They were riding hard now, following the blond through the woods that would eventually lead them to civilization. "It's not much further!" Quatre yelled over his shoulder to them.

It was fun to watch Quatre, especially when he had his heart set on something. His rigid determination seemed to spur Trowa on and he rode his horse up ahead, coming up somewhat behind Quatre as the other looked back at him, smiling at him making his heart beat just that much faster. As if that smile brightened up the world, they break free of the woods and rode into the brightness of the sunlight and the sound of an actual busy city. The scene was breathtaking, the huge white castle at the center of the city almost glowing with the radiance of the sunlight. Quatre's home…was beautiful. Even the birds seemed to agree, flying overhead and singing their happiness as they followed the same path of the team of adventurers.

The horses ran through the grassy meadow and down the hill leading into the city. As they got closer, a crowd of people started to appear, creating a sort of trail as they entered the city. Trowa could hear the people murmuring just barely, strangely excited at their arrival. He wondered if maybe it had to do with them being strangers from another land…but a glance at Quatre told him it had to be something more to it. As they slowed, their horses moving at a walk, Trowa found their trail leading more or less towards the huge palace towering over them. He looked over, about to ask Quatre about their location but frowned noticing Quatre's intense stare ahead. Trowa looked again noticing the people coming towards them, one was on horse back and the other two walking at the side. They were a weird bunch, the guy on the horse being huge as a giant with his square top hair style and his weird beard. And for all that he didn't look like he could harm a fly…though that could be a lie. The other two were smaller in size, wearing weird red hats on their heads that had to be a part of their custom. One of them was even wearing some weird things over his eyes that seemed to block out the light.

"Master Quatre!" The big man said as they came to a stop in front of him, bowing his head slightly. "We have been worried sick about you. Your father was practically pulling his hair out."

Quatre smiled up at the big man, a gentle smile that must have meant this man was very important to him. It almost made Trowa jealous. He wanted a smile like that…to be that important to Quatre as well. "It's good to see you again, Rashid." The smile died away as Quatre looked down for a moment. "I'm afraid I can't talk right now though, we've come here for something of great urgency."

"Hm?" Rashid frowned too and looked over the group of them before his eyes fell on Duo who had his face twisted up in pain, panting silently as if he was trying to catch his breath. "I see. Well you better follow me then." He turned his horse around starting off again.

"Thank you, Rashid," Quatre said starting to follow him.

"There's no need for thanks, Master Quatre."

"Master?" Trowa looked at Quatre questioningly and the other seemed to look even sadder as he let his eyes rest on Rashid's back.

"Yes." He turned his eyes to look at Trowa again, giving him a sad little smile as he said, "it's because…I'm a prince…the only son to my father, the king. And the only one that can be his heir."

_A….prince? There's no way I can be with a prince!_

TBC….

Ah yes another cliffy. If you can't figure out why they seem so upset then well…you'll see next chapter. :smiles: Hopefully it won't take me three billion years again to put up an update. I also didn't realize people were still reading the crimson target story…or CTBN as I like to call it…. So I guess I needs to reread it and get into it again to figure out where the hell I was going with it. :blinks: But hey, I did update this one. And I'm so into it again! Now to just keep it up and…..


	14. Spellcaster 14

Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: After more than half a year I finally update!

Author's comments:

Story note:

"_Yappity yap yap_" Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 14

_How is it that I've ended up on supply shift?_ Wufei sighed slightly and kept walking through the city, Quatre's home and kingdom. Everyone in their group was busy now, trying to get things back in order before they were to leave. _Course doesn't look like we'll be leaving anytime soon_, he thought to himself as he kept walking, eyeing the people that were looking at him weirdly. He'd been to this city once though he'd never actually seen the prince before. Strangely enough, it wasn't that much of a shock that Quatre was a prince. The way he'd dressed and acted at the beginning of their journey together was proof enough. But now, he was like one of them.

Wufei slowed down, looking over some apples sitting on a cart beside him. They were about ten bronze coins apiece and looked to be very healthy and fresh being a nice red color. It couldn't hurt to get a few of these…maybe some grapes and cheese would be nice too and some ale for when this was all over.

_How much longer are we going to be here?_ Wufei sighed again, buying some apples before moving on to the next stand. The streets were busy and on more than one occasion, he had to push his way through to get to his destination. It didn't help that the people were giving him dirty looks. They knew where he came from just by looking at him. He was considered a barbarian by these people and all because his people trained hard and had armies to protect themselves.

_Try to explain that to some pacifist freaks that believe in dying for the cause._ He shook his head slightly at that. They disagreed with violence, these people. But violence is not something that can be eradicated so easily. So why let yourself be unprepared and defenseless? Just because you're pacifist doesn't mean that you're not going to be effected or touched by wars. Wars touch all and have no boundaries. He pushed his thoughts away from that. Right now his war was to survive this mission. It'd definitely become more difficult than he'd expected.

_The worst kinds of enemies are the enemies you don't even know._

He didn't know what they were up against…and he doubted this battle would be easy. Still he was going to try; he was not going to give up.

* * *

"How much do you know about this Shinigami guy?" Heero asked looking over at Solo. The two them were sitting in a beautifully decorated room, Duo on the only bed at the center. Neither one would leave Duo unsupervised nor would they allow the other to stay alone with him. During those times together, neither Heero or Solo spoke to each other, the room delved in only the sounds of Duo's content sleeping. He was healed, quite simply too with only scars left to even say something had happened. Apparently those so-called doctors Quatre had spoke of were really mages specialized in healing. It had shocked Heero to see and even made him want to change his mind about magic being real. In fact, a lot of things that had happened so far on this little mission made him want to change his mind.

"I don't know too much," Solo said frowning a bit and looking suspicious wondering why Heero was talking to him all of a sudden. Or so that's what Heero would assume by looking at him. "Not many elves have ever come into contact with Shinigami before. Aside from being forbidden up until now, it had always been kept within the royal safe."

"Then give me the details. What is this Shinigami?"

"Shinigami…" Solo looked up at the ceiling, remembering something all too familiar. "Shinigami is THE God of Death. He is what drives fear into people; makes them do whatever they can to just stay alive, even kill others. To face Shinigami is to face death." He closed his eyes. "It's been over a 100 years since any one had ever made contact with Shinigami. I had hoped Duo would not have had to use the cross."

Heero narrowed his eyes slightly. "He said he used it to try to save your life…and yet you had died. He never officially told me about it…and I'd like to know how it is you're alive now."

"Can't believe in the fates, huh?" Solo just shook his head. "Well doesn't matter. It's none of your business how I'm alive, just that I am. Or don't you trust me?"

"I don't," Heero said surely, giving him a look as if to ask why even ask such stupid questions. "I will find out your secret."

"Oh will you?" Solo said smugly. "What are you going to do? Try and kill me to see if I'll just suddenly come back to life?"

"I might," Heero said grabbing hold of the sword at his side.

"Fine!" Solo yelled standing to his feet rapidly. "But let's see if you're fast enough against my ma-"

"What are you guys doing?" Trowa was standing in the open doorway, having just walked in on something he probably wasn't meant to see. The two males stood glaring at each other, looking ready to kill.

"I didn't ask you to come along," Heero said as he relaxed his hold on the sword hilt. "You can leave. I'm not stopping you…in fact I encourage it."

Solo growled at that and moved towards the bed, the two of them completely disregarding Trowa who was standing in the doorway trying to figure it all out. "Fine! But Duo is going with me!"

"Touch him and I'll kill you!" Heero said pulling his sword out suddenly.

"Cut it out!" Trowa's suddenly raised voice stopped the two of them if not the glares. "While you two are quarreling about nothing, Duo's still unconscious. This is not the time for fighting among ourselves." He turned his attention to Heero then. "Have you seen Quatre at all today?"

"Hn…" Heero snorted slightly but seemed to have calm down further. "No. He's probably still speaking with his father."

Trowa nodded his head and walked in closing the door behind him. "So what do we do now?"

"You guys are heading out towards the mountains to the East right?"

Heero looked at Solo suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

"Duh. Because I was there when you talked about it. Remember? You tried to kill me because you're jealous of Duo and me." Solo laughed at the look he was given and moved sitting on the bed beside Duo. "Anyways, you wouldn't be able to get in without me."

"Why do you think that?" Heero said looking like he was close to blowing a fuse or a vein. He became even more enraged at the way Solo was petting Duo's hair…yet he didn't know why he was getting so angry, only that he wanted to kill Solo right here and now!

"Because…" He said looked straight up at Heero. "Only those who have been to the eleven village…can go to the elfin village."

"You mean the elves are real?" Trowa asked doubtfully.

"As real as the human flesh. Hell I've recently been there." Solo smiled at him. "And if you follow me, I can show you a real live breathing elf!"

Heero shook his head quickly then slammed his fist into the wall beside him. "No deal!" He didn't need to ask question realizing that if this was indeed true, that Duo himself could lead them. "We can do this on our own!"

"Ok. But when you go running into traps and getting yourself killed, don't say I didn't warn you." Solo brushed his fingers against Duo's lips, looking up at Heero as he did it and smirking at the anger shining in the other's eyes. "However, I refuse to leave this group without Duo with me."

* * *

"Father…" Quatre frowned looking up at his dad who stood in front of him.

"Quatre," The tall man said in return though he didn't sound too joyous in the least to be seeing his son whom had been gone for so long. "What news have you for me?"

Quatre looked down, wanting to say something; his hands clenched at his sides, but he shook his head speaking softly. "The Sanc Kingdom is falling, father. They've gone mad with a curse."

"Hmph. Is that all? I was sure that King Treize of all people would have something far more important to speak of than this." He turned his back on his son and started to walk to the window, hands behind his back. He didn't see his son's concern nor did he seem to care.

_What's wrong with him? He's even worse than usual. And I feel…weird feelings radiating from him. It's almost like the feelings that Queen Relena-_

Quatre's eyes widened at that thought. Could it be that his father was being affected as well? But how? How could the curse be traveling? If it was anything like a disease than there was no telling how bad things could be. It seemed that the city itself was ok so far, yet when he concentrated on it, he could feel the negative feelings spreading through the people's hearts.

"Tell me," his father said hands behind his back as he spoke to his son even though he continued to look out the window. "Your little friend, the injured one…did he happen to have a silver cross around his neck?"

Quatre's thoughts were interrupted then and he bit at his lips slightly before he turned away pretending as if he didn't care about the question. _Why does he want to know something like that!_ "I don't recall ever seeing a cross on him." He closed his eyes, hating the fact that he was lying and yet hoping that his father had not already seen the cross around his friend's neck. What could be so special about the cross? And why would his father know about it?

_We can't stay here!_

"I should go check on the others to see how they are doing," Quatre said giving a small bow. "If you'll excuse me." He turned opening the door and glanced back once at his father still staring out of the window before he exited closing the door quietly behind him. This was all too strange to him. His father wanted to know about Duo's silver cross. _Maybe I should ask him if there's anything special about it._ But it wasn't like Duo's cross was any different from any other person's. Did his father somehow know Duo? Quatre sighed loudly, holding his head for a moment before he started walking down the hallway. _Duo should be close to awake now, I hope.

* * *

_

Hilde looked around the small shack filled with the people from Sanc Kingdom. It was definitely too small, to the point that personal space didn't even exist. They had expected a warmer welcome than they had gotten considering that King Treize was known well for helping the poor…but then again so was Queen Relena before she changed. What was going on? At the very least, Treize could have waited to listen to what they had to say before just kicking them out like that. Hilde glanced over at Howard who was leaning back against the wall, shades over his eyes as he snored. At least that's what she remembered him calling the contraction he got from some street peddler. For a man who had lost everything he owned he sure could sleep comfortable.

_Like a bear in hibernation. _

Hilde shook her head then pushed herself to her feet, rubbing at her arms. The two day journey had been rough but not completely uneasy…until they got to a point where bandits had started to follow them. But it wasn't as though they had much to give. No one seemed in the high spirit; all probably wishing they had just stayed put. But at this point, there was no telling what the soldiers of Sanc would have done to them all. She was the only to noticed Scythe, the silent protector and furry companion. He helped to lead them while also chasing away any bandits that might have gotten too close. She had to admit that sometimes, he did scare her. It wasn't his fought though, just his huge size, sharp claws and pointy teeth scared her. However, not too many days ago he just disappeared. Maybe he just missed Duo that much that he ran back. Hilde missed him too and wished she had gone with him instead.

Yawning and rubbing at her eyes, she tried to ignore the rumbling of her stomach from two days of no food but garbage. Well it might as well be considered garbage considering it was the food tossed away by the town. She maneuvered her way past her sleeping companions, needing the fresh air to escape the stench of sweat and hungry people. The heat inside the little shack was almost unbearable at times. Even the flies couldn't stand it and tended to leave them alone. Night sky greeted her as she exited the shack, stretching her arms up over her body to help get the cramps out. Being stuck in such a small space could do that too a person.

_It's almost as if King Treize is trying to kill us._

Hilde shook her head of that thought, not really wanting to think that someone else was trying to kill them. Had they really left the lion's den and entered the stomach? She hugged herself, wishing Scythe were there beside her to keep her company…or Duo. She smiled slightly to herself. Duo seemed pretty taken by that pretty boy with the brown hair and vice versus. However, thoughts of Solo filled her mind. She remembered Duo telling her the story vaguely about Solo's death. Honestly, he said he didn't really remember much on how it happened officially, just that Solo had died and he had run away. The time she saw him use the cross was the time he tried to save some people being raided by bandits far stronger than themselves. They were too many for Duo to handle alone and he thought that Shinigami could help him. Hilde would have helped; however, the lack of fighting skills and the fact that Duo didn't know she was there was enough to keep her still. And to this day she didn't regret her decision. Had she followed through with her own thoughts, she would be dead just like the rest of them.

She saw it all, the people being killed by something inhuman…something that wasn't Duo. She saw her friend fall to his knees, once it was all over, crying out in a pain that was no where near physical. And she could do nothing but leave, fearing that if she did make herself known…that vicious creature would appear again. It was after her return later that night that Duo had come back. Hilde was sitting on the bed at that moment before she found Duo's head in her lap. She could tell he was exhausted. He asked her questions she didn't know the answer too before falling asleep.

For him to be able to survive so much pain, so much death, made him strong. He was strong…and they were all relying on his strength.

_I'll stay strong too…this time.

* * *

_

Duo's eyes opened and he found himself staring up at a white ceiling. For a moment, the lack of seeing anything else but white made him think he was dead. But then the sudden and quick rush of pain to his head told him that wasn't true. He didn't move yet though, letting the pain ebb away slightly before lifting his head looking to one side of him. Heero was kneeling on the ground beside the bed, his hand holding Duo's loosely. He'd fallen asleep, apparently, while watching over Duo's prone body. The black rings under his eyes were also proof that he'd not been sleeping well. Duo felt warmth come Heero's callous hands holding his own, the fingers twitching slightly in his hold. It made him feel good to know someone cared that much about him to want to watch over him when he was hurt. He'd have expected something like that of Solo but not of Heero. Yet just what was Heero's goal in this? What was he trying to do?

_He looks almost…sociable when he was sleeping. A shame he doesn't act the way he looks right now._

Duo let his thoughts stray off to more important things….like why he was here in the first place. The last thing he remembered before the pain had overtaken him was Heero standing over him prepared to face off against the girl. By the looks of things, Heero had taken care of the problem. The only thing that was bothering Duo now was the fact that despite the injuries he had suffered, he didn't feel any pain at all.

_"If you miss the pain already, I'll gladly bring it back for you."_

_You're still alive too? _Duo mentally said to the death god inside his mind. _And here I was hoping you'd somehow magically died. _

Shinigami just seemed to laugh at the comment, finding some kind of humorous joke in it. _"What would be the fun in that?" _Duo didn't answer him. He was thinking now along the lines of the whole journey. What would happen if he met more of those things like that girl only stronger and much more lethal? He wouldn't be able to survive that's for sure. Hell, Heero would probably let them loose on him just for the hell of it.

_But Heero did save me…or else I'd be dead right now…_ Duo let his thoughts die off as he saw Heero starting to awaken. Just great, now the antisocial asshole was probably going to start ripping and ranting and calling Duo a thief and a liar and a gay guy.

_"He wouldn't be lying. You are gay. You're in love with a guy. You're sick in the minds of normal people."_ Duo closed his eyes against Shinigami's words, even though it didn't stop them. He started to wonder if he'd go insane…or would Heero think he was crazy for hearing "voices" in his head.

_Considering this is the same guy that doesn't think magic is real, I wouldn't be surprised. _Yet Duo had told him about Shinigami that one night…the night the Maxwell church had been burned down and the people killed. He'd told him about the cross and it's importance. Then after that explained how each time he used the cross, he became closer to Shinigami…but so far there was no memory of ever telling Heero that Shinigami could officially talk to him. And so far, the little asshole hadn't shut up since, except that time he'd met up with Solo. At that time it was like there was a pause…like there was nothing coming through at all. Could Shinigami have been scared cause the real owner of the cross was close by?

_Maybe I should just start hanging out with Solo more if it'll make Shinigami shut up…not that I'm complaining about that idea. _Duo shook his head. He felt strangely close to Solo despite the fact that he'd been gone for so long. It was almost as though he'd never left. His sudden appearance at Howard's bar was questionable though. _How DID Solo now I was going to be at that inn anyway? _This was getting too complicated…if only Scythe were here…he could help sort out Duo's thoughts and even give some advice. Duo actually missed his panther companion, this being the first time since they'd met that they'd been separated too long and so far away from each other. He wondered if Hilde and the others had made it to King Trieze…and if they had, if Scythe was on his way back to him. Duo's thoughts suddenly died down as he saw Heero's eyebrow twitching.

_Seems like he's waking up. _As if that was the cue, Heero's eyes slid open slowly. He left his head lying there for a moment, letting his brain swim through the sleepiness before he lifted his head looking right at him. Duo blinked then smiled slightly, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly at the way Heero looked when he woke up…so confused and adorable. _He's actually really cute like this…until he talks anyway. _Heero's eyes were still looking at him, and Duo had to cough and clear his throat, feeling slightly uncomfortable under that stare.

"Morning…uh….h-how is it going?" Duo asked and frowned slightly at the dark looking taking over Heero's eyes. However Heero wasn't looking at him anymore…but at the door. Duo turned his head too, to see Quatre standing there in the doorway looking in at them. He didn't seem all too happy.

_Wow he looks gloomy…. What is this, the "be gloomy" day? If Q looks this bad then Wufei must look like a tornado came out of no where and slapped him in the face. _Duo snickered slightly at that then cleared his throat at the look he was given. "Ah well…I don't have a clue what's going on but I take it, it's not good." He tilted his head to the side looking back and forth between Quatre and Heero. "So what seems to be the problem?"

Heero started to open his mouth to speak, but Quatre beat him to it. "You…came really close to dying. You had us all worried." Quatre's face lit up suddenly and he smiled looking close to tears. "I'm so glad you're ok. We made it back just in time!"

"Seriously!" Duo shouted, eyes wide. He'd come that close to dying and he didn't even know it! But he was lucky to have these people near him.

_"And all you can do is lie to them in hopes they won't find out the truth and stop being your friend."_

A hurt look came over Duo's face at those words, but when he saw Quatre's look turn to one of worry he smiled quickly. "Well I don't have a clue how you guys did it, but thanks." He laughed slightly. "Besides, without me you guys would be clueless." _Not to mention be stuck having to deal with Shinigami. I won't allow that?_

_"Because you know they will lose." _The smugness could be heard in Shinigami's voice. _"But don't worry, when you die, I'll make sure they meet you soon….except the special little soldier boy there."_

_You leave Heero out of this!_ Duo snarled slightly but then frowned seeing the looks he was getting. "What? Can't a guy sneeze without getting strange looks?"

Heero didn't say anything, but was watching him closely, almost as if he knew the real reason behind it. _But there's no way he'd know! I've never told him or anyone about it! _

"Are you sure you're ok?" Quatre asked, though he seemed a bit afraid to come into the room. For some reason, Quatre always seemed afraid to come near him sometimes…like he knew the secret or something.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Quatre…"Duo said softly. Duo fell quiet then, letting his eyes wonder over to the window at the brightness of a new day and the sight of the sun shining so brightly. He hadn't seen that since the good times of the Sanc Kingdom. Maybe that was what was making people go insane there. His eyes flickered towards Heero but they quickly looked back at the window as he saw something, just barely flying towards them. Was that a bird…? His eyes widened slightly as the thing started to get closer, showing itself to be a fireball spiraling towards them, and moving fast! "Shit!"

TBC…

Ah, I got sleepy! But I wanted this to finish up at least! I should have more details on the ending in the next chapter considering it'll take place right at that scene. But for now…I sleep and :grumbles: complain about taking more classes.


	15. Spellcaster 15

Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: After more than half a year I finally update!

Author's comments: This house is cold! But enough about me! Blah blah blah have fun reading!

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap" -_ Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ - mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 15

An explosion shook the Sanc Kingdom causing Wufei to have to catch his balance before he looked around. He saw the smoke coming from the castle and cursed, grabbing the supplies quickly and making a rush for the kingdom. By the looks of it, the blast had hit near the room where Duo was being kept. He'd have to be lucky to be alive after something like that.

_Great. He gets healed only to die again. _

Wufei frowned slightly. Why did he care what happened to the loud mouth braided boy? It wasn't like they spoke to each other often and were on good terms. Though lately, just like with Quatre, he was starting to get attached to the little thief. It was becoming a point where he was starting to let his guard down around the other, which wasn't a good sign to him. Maybe that meant his trust was growing for the boy.

After all, Duo cared for his people. He didn't just sit around and do nothing, but acted out for what was right. It was something that seemed to be taken for granted by people. But there were still stranger things about the boy. There was no explanation on how Wufei had been put to sleep or how he'd awaken a day later. The only ways that could even be possible would be through the use of certain herbs…but it wasn't unlikely that Duo had that ability.

_It has to be it or something like magic._

But somehow he got the feeling that Heero knew something he wasn't telling the others. Though he didn't panic so it probably wasn't that important. The idea of Heero keeping secrets was…kind of creepy.

_Ah, what the hell is that!_

Wufei stopped moving, looking up at the beast flying around overhead. It looked like a dragon though there was no way that could be possible! Dragons had been dead for centuries, killed off by the great wizards of the past! How is it that one was still alive? And why was it attacking the palace?

_I don't have time to be thinking about this!_

Wufei took off again, running as fast as he could while pushing through the crowd of people in the streets. Most of them were looking at the sky now, and staring in awe, but none would run. All stood staring up at the beast leaving Wufei to have to force his way at times to get through to the palace. It was strange how no one seemed to be panicking and screaming. In fact, you'd think they'd be worried for their king and prince not to mention the kingdom and their home.

_Why are they just standing around!_

Wufei shook his head and pushed past the guards by the front gate, surprised somewhat that even they were staring up at the dragon in awe. At this rate, the dragon would probably just feast off the people considering they were easy pickings.

_I hope I'm not too late.

* * *

_

_I'm…I'm alive? _

Duo looked down at his body, searching over quickly for injuries. So far nothing seemed wrong to him, and he took a deep sigh of relief. He was alive and still intact! But what about the others? He looked to where Heero was first and his mouth gaped open in surprise to find the other standing in front of him with his back to him and his arms spread out to the side. He had a protective look about him and Duo suddenly found himself worrying that the other had somehow gotten hurt.

"Heero!" He called out then calmed down with relief when the other turned around to look at him.

"Are you ok?" Heero asked him causing his cheeks to heat up slightly as he nodded his head.

_Gods, I'm getting all gushy like a girl. And over a guy that thinks watching grass grow is the best game ever!_

"Y-yeah…yeah I'm ok." Duo looked away quickly and closed his eyes for a moment getting himself under control. This wasn't the time to panic, nor was it the time to gawk at the commander who wanted to have him thrown in jail just because he attempted to steal a bit of gold from him.

_Quatre…is he ok?_

Duo glanced over at Quatre and saw the other boy with his arms up and his eyes closed, looking completely out of it. For a moment Duo thought he was freaking out but when he glanced back to the window, he felt his eyes widen. The space around the three of them had been completely covered by a blue light. It almost had a gel like look to it making Duo instantly notice that Quatre had used a shield to protect them. Whether he had meant to or not was unknown. But it was very similar to that time in the forest with that crazy Dorothy lady. The other thing that shocked Duo was the fact that half the room was gone, blown up by the blast that should have killed them all.

_I definitely need to keep on Q's good side._

_"I'd be careful what I wish for. He may just turn against you once he finds out. Not that I'm complaining…."_

_Shut up! He may freak out, sure, but he won't kill me! …I hope. _

"What's going on!" Trowa yelled coming to the door, only being stopped by the blond boy standing before him. The glow around them died quickly at his voice as Quatre opened his eyes looking around in confusion.

"I don't know, but we need to get the hell out of here before another-eep!" Duo yelped as he found himself picked up in Heero's arms. Yeah ok so… maybe Duo was just too weak to walk right now. Yeah, that had to be it. Heero wouldn't have opted to carry him otherwise.

"No time to talk," Heero said as he moved past Trowa and Quatre, ignoring the protesting of the braided one in his arms. "Let's get out of here."

"Right," Trowa replied before he looked at Quatre and reached down grabbing his hand. "Come on." He tugged the other behind him, not even noticing blush on Quatre's face as the other was pulled to follow him. So now they were being attacked by something unknown again. The people in the palace were standing around the hallways in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on and probably wondering why the four of them were running past so fast.

_Hell, even I don't know what's going on!_

_"That's because you're as clueless as they come. Maybe you should just let me take over from now on."_

_Fat chance, asshole!_

"What about Wufei?" Quatre asked suddenly.

"He'll be fine," Trowa said giving him a reassuring glance before he returned his attention ahead. "Wufei's strong. He'll be able to take care of himself. I'm sure he'll find us soon."

"Well what about Solo?" Duo added quickly, looking around now just realizing that he didn't even know where the other was.

"Forget about him," Heero said keeping his eyes looking straight ahead, though they did narrow slightly. Why did Heero hate Solo so much? It wasn't like they ever knew each other yet Heero hated him from the very first day. How could he be so cruel as to tell Duo to forget about him?

"Heero, no! We have to find Solo!" He struggled to get down, growling slightly when Heero tightened his hold on him. The bastard wasn't going to let go! It was really starting to make Duo worry now. Did Solo get hurt while he was asleep? Was it possible that Heero did something to him?

_"Or maybe you did something to him."_

_Shut up! _

"Heero, put me down!" Duo yelled out, taking both his hands and pushing against Heero's chest to try and get himself dislodged from the other's hold. Too bad he felt too weak to do much more. If he was right, some healers must have did some work on him; meaning most of his energy had been zapped in the process. Why was Heero doing this anyway? Normally, he wouldn't hesitate to just drop him or leave him behind. Yet, here they were running down the hallway, Duo somehow cradled in Heero's arms. Sure, it felt nice but still…. "Heero!"

Heero stopped running suddenly, and Duo found his eyes looking up at him in confusion then in hope thinking that maybe Heero would finally put him down. "We don't know what we're up against," Heero said as he glared down at Duo then tightened his hold on him. "And I don't plan on letting you run off like an idiot just to go find another idiot and wind up getting killed. So just sit still and shut up."

…_That bastard just called me an idiot!_

_"He wouldn't be lying, you know."_

_Shut up, damn it!_

"I have a right to choose what I want to do with myself," Duo said coldly as he glared up at him in return. "Rather I want to go find an 'idiot' or not, it's my decision."

"Not on my watch it's not," Heero said, his glare not letting up for a minute. The two of them were so locked up in their deadly stares that they hadn't noticed the strange look Trowa and Quatre were giving them nor the person that happened to be heading in their direction from ahead.

"We've definitely got big trouble out there," Solo said gesturing back behind him before he frowned seeing the position that both Heero and Duo were in…mostly the whole Heero holding Duo thing. "What's going on?"

"Solo!" As if his strength suddenly returned to him, Duo pushed at Heero again and slid from his grasp landing on his feet easily. "Thank god you're alright!" He wobbled slightly but moved quickly as he ran over to Solo and wrapped his arms around him tightly. "I thought something had happened to you again."

"Nothing's going to happen to me, I promise." Solo smiled petting Duo's hair as he turned his eyes to Heero, noticing the dark look there in his cobalt eyes. Heero was not liking this action taking place before his eyes. But Solo was completely enjoying it, a smirk lifting to his lips as he pulled Duo closer to him. Duo was completely oblivious to the whole exchange, his eyes closed as he hugged Solo tighter. Again he asked himself why he was so attached to Solo. It wasn't as though he'd been around his best friend since the time of his supposed death.

Duo's legs started to give out on him and he started to fall to his knees before Solo easily caught him picking him up. "Whoa there, you still don't have your strength back, do you?" Duo looked up at him in surprise, cheeks turning red slightly before he gave him a little smile.

"Don't think you can take advantage of this," Duo joked as he pushed a finger against Solo's head. "Once I'm in tip top shape again, I'll be kicking ass left and right just like before."

"Um…what kind of danger did you say was out there?" Quatre asked quickly, noticing the shaking of Heero's hands like he wanted to hit something. This would be as good a time as any to change the subject before someone got hurt.

"Oh right," Solo said, then turned around looking in the direction he'd come from. "I was outside when I saw it. A dragon just flew by and blew a fireball right into the window. I didn't even think dragons were still alive in this world."

"A dragon?" Duo's eyes widened, his face looking like that of a child who'd just found a stash of candy before he suddenly frowned. "Wait, why would a dragon be attacking the city? They rarely ever come near human territory." He noticed the look the two soldiers plus a prince were giving him and smiled sheepishly as he rubbed behind his head. "What? I read a lot of books as a kid."

"The question we should be asking is how do we kill it?" Trowa asked, looking to the others for answers. It wasn't like he knew anything about dragons really, especially since he'd never seen one with his own eyes before.

"We don't have to kill it," Duo said carefully before he looked at Solo. "Put me down for a second." Solo frowned slightly but nodded his head, putting Duo down yet holding him close just in case he fell again.

"Why don't we have to kill it?" Quatre said frowning. He was especially worried considering that this was his hometown, scratch that, his kingdom and his people. The worse he could do was run away and leave his people to die at the hands of this beast.

"Dragons are basically considered legendary magical creatures," Duo said closing his eyes as he explained. "And elves can pretty much talk to almost any magical creature there is." This was as good a time as anyway. If they were friends of his then they would understand…besides, if he didn't hurry that dragon would completely demolish this city. "And since I'm an elf, I'll go talk to it and see what's up."

"You're an elf!" Quatre said in astonishment, staring up at him as if he were a prized jewel. "Why didn't you just tell us?"

"Well…in this time, walking around and calling yourself an elf is not a good idea." He frowned and moved carefully, heading for the closest window. "You should know. People consider elves an evil to the world because of their magic…and the people that don't think that usually want to do cruel and unusual experiments to see where their magic comes from. That's why I hide and pretend to be a human. The same with Solo there." The named one waved his hands when everyone looked over at him. With a sigh, he lifted his hair up to reveal the long elf ears before covering them.

"I see," Quatre said slowly before he nodded his head. "Yeah, it makes sense now!"

"Sorry I had to keepit secret for this long," Duo said looking out as he let his eyes searching around trying to find the dragon. "But I had to make sure I could trust you first." Once he found the dragon he closed his eyes and lifted his hands holding them out in front of him as the magic started to work through him.

_Ok, big boy, let's see what you've got._

A white glow formed in his hands before it shot out quickly shooting towards the dragon and hitting him dead in the head. The dragon shook his head for a second then turned around looking for the source. He saw the elf boy standing at the window before he started to fly over. Duo heard a gasp of surprise behind him from his group of friends but ignored it, knowing that Solo would hand anything if they tried to do something.

_"What do you want from me, child of the elves," _The dragon said, his words coming in Duo's mind as he stopped in front of the window, hovering there, his head so close to Duo's body. He was half as big as the castle, maybe a little smaller than that but still a major threat. Duo had learned this so long ago, how to communicate with the creatures of magic. He'd had his first try with talking with a unicorn and had considered it something he'd never forget. The experience was definitely something unforgettable…and somehow once you came in contact with a magical creature…the connection would never disappear unless one of them died. Sadly, he never had a hand at talking with a dragon…so he was a little nervous about doing it this time.

_"I want to know what's wrong,"_ Duo said back as he reached out his hands placing them on the dragon's snout, hand being blown away slightly as the dragon breathed out. He felt his braid rattling behind him at the release of breath before finally coming to rest against his ass again._"Why are you destroying this city?"_

_"Something is in the air," _The dragon said as a low growl came from his lips. _"Something sinister. I can't pinpoint where it's coming from…so I'm going to destroy the city to kill it."_

_"Isn't that a little extreme?" _Duo asked, frowning. True, dragons really had no regard for human life whatsoever and normally they just stayed away considering the humans to be a stupid breed. But, for the dragon to come here for something like this must mean that something really bad was around here.

_Wait…is it me? I do have Shinigami…could he be sensing me?_

Duo swallowed, not liking the idea of being eaten up by a dragon.

_"It's not extreme if the evil is destroyed and the world is saved from its darkness," _The dragon continued before he sniffed at the air again. Duo felt himself getting nervous, so nervous he pulled his hands away from the beast's snout.

_"Can…you pinpoint where the evil is now?" _Duo asked carefully, hoping the dragon was still somehow stuck in a state of confusion. The fact that the beast even cared at all about his sinister feeling must mean that the evil presence he felt was really bad. He didn't receive an answer, instead feeling a heat growing from the direction of the dragon's mouth. He dared to open his eyes, then cursed when he saw the red glow surrounding the dragon's mouth knowing what the dragon was about to do next.

_Oh shit!_

"Run!" Duo yelled as he ran down the hallway. The others looked startled but followed him quickly, just barely getting out of the way as the dragon's mouth opened and the fire explode from his mouth flying through the wall directly on the other side.

"Duo, what the hell!" Heero asked once he caught up.

"He said he came to destroy the evil presence he felt!" Duo said quickly, not even glancing over as he kept running, feeling a need to hide yet knowing there was no hiding from a dragon. "He wants to kill me!"

"Is he after Shinigami?" Solo asked as he sped up coming to run on Duo's other side.

"I don't know!" Duo answered quickly, hearing the rumbling of the castle falling apart behind him, knowing that the dragon was really after them now. "What do you expect me to do? Turn around and asked him if he wants to kill me? Hell no!" He regretted saying the words as soon as they were out, hating the fact that he was being so cruel. But he was frustrated. And with good reason too! All because of the stupid Shinigami inside of him, a dragon was now on his tail and trying to kill him! Great, just great!

During all of the commotion, Duo had completely forgotten that his body was still too weak to handle all of this, but he quickly remembered when he felt his knees buckling under him. He cursed his weakness but was surprised as he felt warm arms catch him quickly. Looking up quickly, his found that he was once again cradled in Heero's arms though the other hadn't even stopped running as they kept moving on down the hallway to escape the dragon's wrath.

"Does anyone have any ideas?" Trowa spoke up, once again holding Quatre's hand.

"What the heck are you guys doing!" Up ahead Wufei was standing in front of a flight of stairs leading down. He was frowning but quickly turned around looking at the stairs. "Staying up here in the open is only going to get us killed! We're going to have to go underground!" Heero just nodded his agreement to the statement before he ran down, the rest following quickly. Wufei glanced up toward the fire coming his way before he ran down as well. They kept moving, slowing to a walk now as they went through the basement hallways down where the prison cells kept. The only way the dragon was going to be getting down here was either shrinking or digging his way. Hopefully he'd give up by then.

_I doubt that._

Duo scowled slightly, wondering why Shinigami wasn't there to give some nice helpful 'advice' when he wanted it. But like times in the past, Shinigami remained quiet when in the presence of Solo. What was it about the elfin prince that seemed to make even Shinigami go quiet? As if he knew he was being talked about, Solo glanced over at him giving him a quick smile before he spoke. "How are you feeling?"

"Besides the lack of strength in my body and the dragon outside that's trying to kill me, I feel just peachy." He knew it was sarcastic, but for the moment he didn't care. He didn't even care about the fact that his body was actually shaking from the idea of coming so close to burning alive.

"We can't stay down here forever," Heero said, glancing down at Duo as he stopped walking, now further into the prison area. "We're going to have to fight that thing if we plan to get out of here alive."

"Whoa whoa, and how are we supposed to fight a giant dragon?" Duo asked, frowning as he heard the fire overhead hitting the ground, some rocks from the ceiling crumbling down and bouncing on his head. "Naturally I'd probably be able to take care of this but well…whatever you guys did to me, it's got me feeling a little too weak to be of much help magic wise."

"Who said you were coming with us?" Heero said as he opened a door beside him and sat Duo down before pushing him inside.

"Hey!" Duo yelled out, wincing when his ass made contact with the ground beneath him. What was the big idea throwing him into the cell! This wasn't exactly the time to be arresting him! Especially when he had a better chance then all of them! He could easily just summon Shinigami and be done with this! But that thought made him hesitate. Was it a good idea to use Shinigami? He glanced up in surprise when he saw Quatre being pushed in as well before the iron door slammed shut with a click. What the hell, Quatre too? "Heero!"

"This is for your own good," Heero said as he looked in at him, watching as Duo grunted struggling to pulled himself to his feet. "You're too weak right now to do anything to help us. It'll just be suicide."

"Yeah, I hate to say it but I agree," Solo said, holding the bars as he smiled in at him. "The dragon wants you, right? So we'll do what we can to protect you."

"But-"

"No buts!" Solo said quickly. "We'll take care of this and come get you out before you know it!"

"Why am I in here?" Quatre said as he grabbed the bars looking at them with a pout. "I can help too!"

"You're the prince," Trowa answered as he stood in front of him, giving him a gently smile to say everything was going to be ok. "This kingdom's going to need you after everything that's just happened. I can't let you get hurt."

"But Trowa…." Quatre frowned and glanced down staring at the floor a minute before he looked up at him again.

"Don't worry. We won't die," He said as he looked at Wufei, giving a nod before the two of them ran off.

"Wait! Trowa! Trowa!" The two were out of sight quickly, returning to a battle that was in no way in their league. They couldn't win against something like that!

"Heero! Solo! Don't you dare leave me in here!" Duo growled as he grabbed hold of the bars to pull himself up, glaring at the two males just as they turned and ran off, following their comrades to battle. "Damn it!"

"What are we going to do?" Quatre sighed flopping down onto the ground. He was definitely worried now, in fact just as worried as Duo was. Those guys were insane to think they could take on a dragon by themselves. Sure, Solo might actually be able to get away with barely a scratch because he was an elf too…but what about Heero? What about Trowa and Wufei who didn't have Heero's healing abilities?

"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve," Duo said as he made his way to the door then reached into his hair pulling out a pin. When he said he was a skilled thief, he meant every word. "We're getting out of here, Q, and we're going to help those crazy nuts whether they want it or not!"

"Yeah," Quatre said giving a smile as he stood up to his feet and moved standing by the barred door as Duo worked at the lock. "I have to ask you a question though…since we're stuck in here and all."

"Hm?" His concentration was still on the lock but he did look over at Quatre, giving the other the go ahead sign.

"Who is this Shinigami you were talking about earlier?" Quatre asked with a frown. "And why is your cross so important?"

The pin almost broke in Duo's hand at the surprising questions but he continued to work, giving Quatre a quick glance.

"Well…it's kind of complicated so to say," Duo said, frowning now. Was it really a good idea to tell Quatre about Shinigami? The other already acted so freaked out whenever he was around Duo.

_"Go ahead. What harm could it do besides scaring your friends off?"_

_Damn it, you again?_

"Shinigami…"Duo started as he paused in working on getting the lock open. "Is the God of Death…the official god of death so to say." He closed his eyes as he continued. "And he lives in my cross." He glanced over at Quatre noticing the confusion on his face and smiled. Figures he wouldn't get it exactly. "Let's just say it like this…if I use the cross right here on my chest, Shinigami will take over my body and basically kill everything, including you." He saw Quatre shy back from him but tried to ignore the action as he continued. "If I'm killed…or if I die, then Shinigami will completely take my body…and _then_ kill everything. Do you get the picture?"

"So…the spirit of the God of Death lives in your cross…." Quatre hadn't made a move to come closer yet, his eyes definitely very watchful of Duo now. Did that mean he was scared?

_Guess I scared one off now._

"Well…technically he's part of the cross and part of me too. We're slowly fusing together whether I like it or not." Sighing he started to get to work on the lock again. "It's a curse I wish I had never gained."

"Can't you just get rid of the cross?"

"And let someone find the cross and use it for their own personal gain? Hell no!" Duo heard the click of the lock and pulled the pin out, setting it back in his hair before he turned to Quatre. "Besides, with Shinigami already half fused with me, any damage to the cross can hurt me. And of course giving it away…well I don't know what would happen but it would probably kill me…or do some harm one way or another."

"I-I see," Quatre said as he pushed the door open. "So…as long as you don't use the cross or get killed…you won't turn into Shinigami."

"Yep. That's about the size of it. Duo stepped out first and waited as Quatre followed him out before giving him a quick smile. "I know you're probably freaked out by now. I don't blame you really…I'm actually surprised that Heero even comes near me still."

"That must be so painful to have to keep all of that inside," Quatre said frowning, "Knowing that your friends will probably run away if they knew…."

"You get used to it," Duo said with a shrug, hating the fact that it was definitely true. He was afraid of losing their friendships. They were too close to him, just like the people of Maxwell Church before the massacre that took place. Even now he was trying hard not to think about his old home and all the people that died there. No, he had to stop this madness before more people lost their lives. "So if you feel like freaking out and running away or something, I don't mind."

"No," Quatre said as he came up resting a hand on Duo's shoulder. "I mean…yes I am afraid of what might happen…but you're a dear friend to me. I won't abandon you." He smiled up at him, giving him a quick hug as a shocked look came across Duo's face. "And I'm sure the others will understand too if you tell them."

"Ah geez," Duo said, batting his eyes quickly to keep any tears he felt from falling. Why did the guy have to say something as sentimental as that? "You sure those guys won't freak out by the idea that they can die by just the touch of Shinigami?"

He felt Quatre tense in his arms at that before the other seemed to force himself to relax. "No. I'm sure they'll stick by you. If not then I'll hurt them myself." He pulled back smiling up at him. "It's not like you choice your fate. And you're a really good guy. They won't hate you."

"Y-yeah, I hope so…."

_"You're nothing but a big baby," _Shinigami said inside his head. _"A big baby who won't have any friends once I'm done with them."_

_Like you'd even know the meaning of the word friends,_ Duo responded as he gave a snort.

"Hey, let's go save those guys before they get themselves hurt!" Quatre said quickly, giving him a quick smile as he grabbed his hand dragging him down the hallway.

"Good idea! We'll show them just how strong we can be!" The two of them kept running, disappearing on down the hallway to join the others in battle against the dragon.

_I may not be strong enough, but I'm not letting you have your way. Do you hear me!_

Shinigami didn't reply to his words, which almost made Duo worry. What was he up to now to suddenly feel the need to go quiet? Duo doubted that what he'd say had scared the other off. Hell, he'd said much worse and it hadn't done any good. They kept moving, running through the corridors and heading for the stairs prepared to face their new battle as well as prove their worth to their comrades.

_I'll show them that I'm just as good as the next one!_

TBC….

Man I'm sleepy…curse you allergies! I liked well…most of this chapter if not all of it. And I'm surprised I've gotten into typing things longer now. And yay…dragons!


	16. Spellcaster 16

Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: After more than half a year I finally update!

Author's comments: Hehe I'm still having fun working on this story.

Story note:

"Yappity yap yap" Mental conversation.

Duo has a nice ass mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 16

"This thing's pretty tough," Trowa said as he dodged another breath of fire, moving quickly to hide behind the rock Wufei has taken refuge behind.

"What'd you expect from a dragon?" Wufei asked, panting softly as he tried to will his aching muscles to make him move again. "Heero and Solo took off like two lunatics after that thing. It's a wonder they're not dead yet."

Trowa nodded his head looking over the rock they were behind watching the two males fighting the dragon, one on one side and the other on the other side. "Heero's strong and stubborn. It's no wonder he's considered the best."

"Well being the best doesn't mean he's not an idiot," Wufei said snorting, feeling that he was finally ready to move again. Turning around, he peered over the rock with Trowa and glared at the dragon. "We need to figure out its weak points."

"I remember reading once that the weak point was located on the chest, a part that's not covered by the thick scales." Trowa said then glanced over at Wufei before looking out at the fight again. "But that doesn't make it true."

"You'd have the better chance of doing it with your bow," Wufei stated. "If that weak point does exist." He stood up, not bothering to brush himself off as he gripped his sword tighter in his hand. "Either way, I'll go out there and do what I can. See what you can do with that bow of yours, maybe aims for one of his eyes."

Trowa nodded his head. "I'll give it a try." He stared up at the dragon. "Good luck out there."

"Yeah, good luck back here too." Wufei took off then, running quickly and dodging obstacles that some how seemed placed before him by the dragon. He tried not to take into account the dead bodies around him, his focus laid out on the dragon. Most of the guards by now had either run off or been killed by the dragon's rage. So what exactly had the dragon so pissed off all of a sudden?

* * *

"Are you going to be ok?" Quatre asked as Duo felt his legs trying to buckle underneath him, having to use the wall beside him to support himself. Crap, he'd hate to admit that Solo and Heero were right. But he just wouldn't feel right leaving those guys to fight a dragon that only wanted him dead.

_Maybe I should just let him kill me…but I can't die, not with Shinigami…_

_"Worrying about that again, are we? You know, you wouldn't have this problem if you'd just call on me." _

_Are you trying to butter me up?_

_"Nope. Just giving you a logical thought. They'll die whether I help or not, just so you know."_

Scowling, Duo willed his body to move, starting down the hallway again, not noticing the confused look Quatre sent him before he caught up and walked beside him. He knew the other was worried but what more could he say? Yeah I'm ok, well except for the voices in my head. He heard Shinigami laughing inside his head and paused in walking, holding his head in frustration. He should have been used to the voice by now. But sometimes…sometimes he just wanted to get away from it. He needed Solo…yeah only Solo would be able to keep the voice away.

"Duo?" Quatre rested a hand on Duo's shoulder, bringing the other's focus back to him. He gave out a slight gasp at the dark look in Duo's eyes before it faded away, returning to something a little more familiar.

"S-sorry, Q," Duo said then gave a little laugh as he turned leaning his back tiredly against the wall. "I guess I really am out of it."

"Duo…" Quatre sighed shaking his head before he lifted his head smiling at him. "No, it's ok. Maybe you should stay behind until you get your strength back."

"No, I said I'd go." He turned starting up the steps. "I mean I can't let them get hurt…I can't let any of you get hurt because of me!" He clenched his hands tightly at his side, willing his body to keep going. "The dragon wants me…." His eyes darkened again. "So I'll give it what it wants."

"Duo…" Sighing again, Quatre followed behind him, ready to catch the other if he did fall. "Ok…but be careful."

"Sure," Duo turned giving Quatre a smile. "Don't worry, I'll make sure not to die so it won't take over."

"I didn't mean…." The words died on Quatre's lips as they reached the top of the stairs, staring out at the open sky no longer indoors. A good portion of the palace had been destroyed thanks to the dragon. Dead bodies laid littering the ground, the smell of blood rich and fresh yet not old enough to have the foul odor of decay. Eyes stared up towards the sky in a lifeless stare, at least for those that still had body parts or a head to speak of. "No…this…this is horrible."

"It's….this is all my fault," Duo said softly, his eyes wide as he took it all in. "I…if only I hadn't come here…."

"It's not your fault," Quatre said quickly, staring towards the ground. He was worried, worried for his father. Was he still hopefully alive?

"But Quatre…" A roar brought both of their attention to the dragon, the same dragon who seemed to be looking straight at them as he sniffed the air, obviously smelling that evil scent that caused so much trouble to begin with.

_"Looks like he's ready for a meal. Ready to give me your body now?"_

Duo didn't even respond to that, swallowing in fear as he took a step back. Sure, he said he was ready to do this, but those burning red eyes staring at him sent fear through his body. The ground rumbled beneath their feet, threatening to knock them over as they reached to hold on to the torn wall still left standing.

"We have to move, Duo!" Quatre yelled out, looking over at Duo. Still somewhat out of it, Duo didn't notice when Quatre dragged his hand and started to pull him to follow. They were starting to go back towards the basement, but a foot suddenly landed in front of them, crushing their hopes of escape as it stepped down on the stairs, causing it to cave in. "No!"

"This isn't good!" Duo yelled out, then took a step back staring up at the dragon. The dragon's head came close to his again, sniffing at him, making his clothes blow wildly and almost causing him to fall over at the strength.

_"You hold a very dark power within you, little elf," _The dragon said, mouth opened slightly as a low growl escaped his lips.

_I-I know that…but…but I have it under control, see?_ Swallowing, Duo took another step back before finding himself unable to move, his back bumping up against the wall still standing behind him. He started to slide sideways to escape the dragon but the dragon moved forward, pressing his snout against Duo's chest keeping the boy from moving.

_"You must be killed for the dark power to be eradicated."_

_N-No…j-just the opposite! I have to stay alive for it to not awaken!_

_"If the body is destroyed then the power can't awaken," _The dragon replied, a tongue peeking out the side of his mouth for a second before going back inside, his mouth opening slightly. Trembling, Duo thought nothing else, knowing the dragon could smell his fear. Yes, he had to admit this scared him. He never knew dragons could be so ruthless. Inside his head, Shinigami was laughing, apparently not finding this as a threat to his life. Just what was it that Shinigami was keeping from him?

"Duo!" Quatre yelled his name as he picked up the rocks by his feet and threw them at the dragon, hitting him in the head. "You leave Duo alone!"

"Quatre, stop!" Duo tried to wiggling free, not noticing until late that the dragon wasn't even paying attention to Quatre. That wasn't a good feeling…it just meant he didn't feel threatened by Quatre in the least.

_Heero…Solo…please…please help…_

_"They're not coming. They don't want anything to do with you. That's why you were left behind."_ Shinigami again, though Duo wasn't thinking much of it in his need to just stay alive.

Slipping his hand down to his pocket carefully, his managed to pull free his knife, swallowing and trembling still as he brought it up, willing all the strength in his body to save him as he brought it down intent to stab the dragon in the snout. A lot of good that did, the knife just slipping free from his hand, the dragon's scales so hard that the knife didn't even penetrate it.

_I'm doomed._

"Duo!"

"Solo!" Hope bloomed in Duo's body as Solo got closer to where he was, seeing the other elf already starting up a spell as he ran. "Solo, thank god you're here!"

"Duo, sit tight I'll get you free!" The others were coming too, just getting there as the spell was cast, fire shooting from his hands hitting the dragon dead in the face. Roaring with anger and pain, the dragon moved back, turning his glare to Solo before starting towards him. "Yeah that's right you big lug, come after me!"

As soon as the dragon's attention was off him, Duo felt his body sliding to the ground still trembling from both fear and weakness. He should have just stayed put like they told him to.

"Duo!" Quatre ran over, followed by the others as he reached down to help him up. "Duo, are you ok!"

"Y-yeah…yeah I think I'm ok," Duo said shakily as he took the offered hand to help him to his feet.

"Idiot. What were you thinking come out here?" Heero asked, glaring at him with his arms folded over his chest.

"Well I was thinking I'd come help save you," Duo said glaring at him in return, trying to ignore the shaking in his body.

"And look how well that worked out," Heero replied, the words making Duo flinch. All he did was get in the way. He should have stayed put like he'd been told to do. Instead he had to try and play hero again only to wind up being the one getting rescued.

_"You are nothing without me. You should not deny me, little pawn."_

"I…" Duo didn't know what to say as he turned his eyes away. It was his fault that this was happening. All of these people died because of him. He should have never used the cross that time long ago. He shouldn't have tried to save Solo.

_"Yes, it's all your fault."_

"It's not his fault," Quatre said stepping between Heero and Duo and staring up at Heero. "We just wanted to help everyone."

"You could have helped by staying out of it," Heero said turning his attention away to look at the dragon which was still after Solo, the other running and throwing smaller fire balls at the dragon now, not having the time to summon up a bigger one. "Follow your orders this time and stay here." He looked at Trowa and Wufei. "Trowa, stay here and make sure they don't do anything else stupid. Wufei, come with me." He turned running off, heading over to where the dragon and Solo were. Wufei gave a nod, glancing over at Duo for a second before he ran off following him.

Duo still had his head turned away, hands clenched tightly as his side as he stared towards the ground. He felt a hand land on his shoulders looking up to find Quatre staring at him worriedly. "You going to be ok?" Quatre asked, waiting until he received a small nod before giving a little smile of reassurance. "Everything's going to be ok, don't worry."

"But…how is it going to be ok? People died…maybe…maybe I should have just let it kill-" Before he knew what was going on he felt a stinging feeling across his cheek, his eyes turning to Quatre in shock seeing the other's hand still in the air from where he'd slapped him. "Q-Quatre…"

"It had to be done," Quatre said taking a deep breath as he lowered his hand. "You may not believe it, but the rest of us would be sad if you were gone. What happened here wasn't your fault. You had no control nor did you have any idea that a dragon would come here today. You didn't even have a choice in coming here with us. We brought you here wanting to save you. I'd…I'd just be really sad if you just wanted to throw away our efforts to help you."

"The problem lies with the dragon," Trowa said, walking over to stand beside Quatre. "It's not you who's running around killing people and destroying homes. The dragon must be stopped."

Duo glanced over towards the dragon as Heero, Solo, and Wufei fought the beast desperate to weaken it somehow. The magic Solo was using only seemed to be irritating it more as he threw spell after spell at it. Fed up with the magic hitting him, the dragon roared loudly before taking a claw and swiping it hitting Solo hard, the elf flying thrown backwards bouncing along the ground like a bouncing ball before going still.

"Solo!" Duo started to move forward to go to him, but Quatre's hands held him back, the other still too weak to fight against him. "Quatre, let me go! I have to save him!"

"Duo, you're still too weak! If you try to go to him you'll only get yourself hurt too!" Even if he was still weak, Duo was still pretty strong taking all of Quatre's energy to hold him back.

"Don't worry, I'll get him," Trowa said causing both Quatre and Duo to go still and stare at him in shock.

"But Trowa," Quatre started, the worrying shining in his eyes.

Trowa gave him a smile. "If you two stay put I'll go get Solo and bring him back here, ok?" Though Quatre didn't seem too happy about that, Duo seemed hopeful.

"You…you really mean that, Trowa?" Trowa nodded his head then turned starting away, running quickly towards Solo. Luck was with him, only because Heero and Wufei were providing a perfect distraction for him. He kept running, Duo and Quatre watching anxiously on the sidelines until he reached Solo. And just as easily as he got there, he picked up Solo like a sack of potatoes and started back towards them. "You did it!" Duo yelled out loud as Solo was laid down on the ground beside him. Quickly he moved to his knees checking Solo over for injuries then giving a sigh of relieve when he didn't find anything major. Though bruised here and there as well as covered in a few scratches, there didn't seem to be any fatal wounds. He wasn't too sure about his ribs though and would just have to wait for Solo to wake up to find out about them.

Cradling Solo's head to his chest in happiness, Duo kept him close continually giving thanks for him being alive. Their eyes focused back to the battle again. Once again, Shinigami said nothing while in the presence of Solo, giving Duo at least a little bit of calm. But now he was worried for Wufei and Heero. Compared to Solo, they were only human. And Wufei was even more vulnerable than Heero in that he didn't have a way to heal himself.

"Master Quatre, is that you!"

"Rashid!" Quatre turned as the big man ran up to him, two others following behind him. "Rashid, you're ok! How is everyone! What about Father! Is he ok!"

"Calm down, Master Quatre. Your father is fine. We got as many people as we could out of the city." At those words, Quatre gave out a sigh of relief before finding himself picked up and hugged tightly by Rashid. "As soon as everyone was safe, we came out to look for you." He glanced over, frowning as he looked at the dragon fighting the other two males. "But it's not safe for us to stay here. We should get you to safety with your father."

"But-"

"Can you take Solo with you?" Duo asked quietly, looking up at the really tall man. "He's been hurt and I don't want to leave here yet."

"Duo…." Quatre looked at Trowa for answers but Trowa just smiled at him.

"Don't worry, I'll stay behind and make sure he doesn't get himself hurt." Trowa said, as he reached out a hand resting it on Quatre's shoulder. "Meanwhile, get to safety. A prince shouldn't be in the midst of danger."

"But Trowa…."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine here. As soon as we get Heero and Wufei we'll come looking for you."

"Actually, I want you to go with them, Trowa." Duo said, his eyes being blocked by his bangs as he looked down at Solo, gently brushing his fingers against one of his cheek.

"You know I can't do that," Trowa said carefully, frowning when Duo didn't look up at him.

"I don't care what Heero says. I'm not going to sit back and just let him die." Duo stood carefully to his feet, wobbling slightly before he walked over and knelt down picking up his knife. "Sorry but…take care of Solo for me, would ya?" He took off then, running towards the battle with the dragon.

"H-Hold on a minute!" Trowa started to follow after him but stopped, torn between his obligation to protect Duo and his need to stay and protect Quatre. He glanced between one and the other in hopelessness before he sighed and knelt down picking Solo up.

"T-Trowa, shouldn't you go after him?" Quatre asked, frowning in confusion when Trowa just shook his head.

"There's no helping it. He'll do what he wants to do," Trowa said as he stood holding Solo in his arms. "I won't be able to stop him even if I try."

"But he'll get himself killed," Quatre protested, shaking his head in worry. "There's no way he'll be able to protect himself the way he is now!"

"Don't worry…Heero and Wufei will protect him. I'm sure of it."

* * *

Panting, Heero slashed at the dragon's foot again angrily, noticing that once again it had no effect on him. It made him wish the sword would do like it did in the past, giving him such power and glowing brightly. It had been a strong weapon then, now containing a soul trapped inside and yet following his will. So why couldn't he call on that power now? Frustrated he slashed at the dragon's foot again, being bounced at the contact yet still not making a dent on the thing. He was about to attack it again when he looked up finding Duo heading in his direction.

_That idiot!_

Cursing under his breath, Heero ran around the dragon's foot, heading in Duo's direction. Duo was already more than halfway to him, stopping to pant when Heero got close to him. "You idiot, why are you here?"

"I'm…here to help," Duo said, panting and supporting his shaky arms on his legs as he bent over to catch his breath. "I'm not going to let you guys fight it alone." The dragon roared behind them, enraged by the smell of evil once again being so close to him. Heero quickly grabbed Duo's hand, dragging the other behind him as he ran. The dragon was right on their tail, the sudden feeling of heat behind him giving enough warning for him to run to the side dodging the breath of fire that flew past him. He picked Duo up as he was running, making it easier to move as he kept going. He could hear Wufei calling out to him somewhere but there was nothing he could do about that now, not when his complete focus was now on keeping both him and Duo alive.

_Why does he have to be so stubborn?_

Cradled in Heero's arms, Duo held up a hand whispering words quickly under his breath before a block of ice fell from the sky above the dragon's head, breaking in half at contact and leaving the poor dragon in a daze. Heero glanced over his shoulder, not feeling the rumbling of the dragon chasing them anymore. At Duo's laugh as well as the pieces of ice still on the ground, Heero was able to figure out what had happened. He had to admit he was pretty impressed with the results. Duo seemed pretty happy, a smug look on his face as he gave Heero a look that said, 'told you so.'

"You're still too weak to be out here," Heero said starting to run again, taking this as a good opportunity to get them to safety. He saw Wufei up ahead waving his arms and nodded his head starting towards him.

"Yeah but I told you I could help. You know, you shouldn't doubt me so much."

"Hm." Heero rolled his eyes, deciding not to say more to make the braided one's head swell even more than it already was was. "Whatever."

"And when we get back I think you owe me an apo-"

"Heero! Duo! Look out!"

* * *

"Huh?" Duo looked up just in time to saw the claws coming before they were suddenly hit, sent flying similar to Solo earlier. His body burning with pain, Duo laid there in a daze trying to figure out what had just happened. He barely lifted his head up, wincing at the pain in it and closing his eyes for a second keeping completely still. When the pain subsided he lifted his head, seeing Heero lying on the ground several yards away from him. "Heero…you still alive?" Heero shifted on the ground too, shaking his head quickly before carefully pushing up on his arms, his eyes landing on Duo's.

Seeing that the other was ok, Duo gave a sigh of relief…or at least until he felt the ground shaking around him and looked up to find the dragon hovering over him. A big drop of saliva dripped down from the corner of the dragon's lip, hitting the ground beside Duo making his face twist in disgust. Well…that was gross. But seeing the ground where the saliva had hit start to burn away, Duo started to scoot his body away, wincing at the pain he could feel running through his newly healed body.

_"This game must end now," _The dragon said inside Duo's head, as he lifted a claw above his head roaring as he started to bring it down. Duo's eyes widened then quickly shut close, not wanting to see the results of his death. He heard Heero and Wufei call out his name, but he didn't hear it.

_"It's time for me to take over…little pawn."

* * *

_

"Duo!" Heero called out the other's name, forcing himself to his feet as he started over, already knowing that he was too late as the claw came down towards the braided one. He saw the claw go down, smoke floating up around the dragon, as the dragon's foot stirred the dirt on the ground. "Duo!" Heero couldn't explain the feelings flowing through his body. Why was he so upset right now? He didn't try to think about it long, trying to bring himself out of his shocked state at witnessing the death of the pretty elf boy.

As the smoke was blowing away, Heero felt his eyes widen and his heart jump at what he saw. Though the monster's foot had obviously hit the ground right where Duo was, the braided wonder wasn't there anymore. In fact he stood beside the foot, his head staring down towards the ground. Heero felt a feeling of warmth starting to flood his senses as he stared at Duo and was about to call out to him before something stopped him. His sword starting to glow brightly, warm to the touch when he reached down wrapping his hand around the hilt. Something was wrong. The sword was sensing danger but from where? Was it Duo?

The dragon roared in anger once it realized that its target had escaped, eyes glaring down at Duo. It was even more agitated now, desperate to destroy Duo as it kept stomping its feet trying to squash Duo. And each and every time the elf would somehow manage to dodge the attack, being just out of the way of the onslaught of feet.

"What's going on?" Wufei yelled as he was coming up and stopped beside Heero. "What are you doing? We have to go help that idiot!" Wufei started to move forward but Heero throw out a hand quickly blocking him.

"Something's not right," Heero said not looking but yet knowing that the other was frowning at him. "Take a closer look." Snorting, Wufei turned his eyes to the scene again, watching carefully to see what it was that Heero saw. "Is he…smiling?"

Yes, Duo was smiling. And it wasn't his normal cute or sarcastic smile either. This was a smile of evil, a smile that had to belong to Shinigami. That means he must have summoned him. Damn it, what had he been thinking! Or else…did Duo really die? He just didn't know the answer, could do nothing but grow angry at Duo for having come out here in the first place. "There's a few things you don't know about Duo," Heero said glancing at Wufei when the other looked at him. Yeah, he remembered that Wufei hadn't been there to learn that Duo was a elf. But that wasn't the part he was afraid to reveal. "But right now, I can't tell you any of this. I just need to you trust me and to get as far away from here as you can."

"Are you kidding me! And leave you two out here to be destroyed by that thing!"

"It's not that thing that I'm worried about," Heero said, his eyes staying on Duo noticing that the other was having just a little too much fun dodging the dragon. "Just follow your orders and get out of here."

"Tsk." Wufei looked like he wanted to protest but he kept his words to himself, grunting before he turned away roughly heading back towards the torn palace. It was better this way…because if it came down to it, Heero would rather have to face Shinigami himself if it would keep everyone else from getting hurt…or killed.

Things seemed to happen in good time as Shinigami stepped back from the dragon. A darkness seemed to radiate from his body, tendrils of darkness wiggling free from his body as he went towards the dragon. The dragon roared out in alarm and tried to take flight but didn't make it very far as the black ropes of darkness wrapped around his body, confining him to its net. Heero watched on in confusion then in shock as he saw the tendrils tighten around the dragon, the dragon's pain being known as it roared loudly, drops of black blood dripping to the ground.

Laughter was heard coming from Shinigami as he just stood his ground watching the whole show just as Heero did.

As if he were only a small piece of fruit, the dragon's body was cut into pieces splattering to the ground in a bloody mess when the tendrils were pulled taunt. The darkness had literally cut right through him, the roar instantly stopping. Not being far enough away, Heero wasn't able to prevent the dragon's blood from covering his body. He loss his footing due to the body parts hitting into the ground causing a mini earthquake as well as the slipperiness of the blood on the ground. He coughed wiping the blood from his face the best way he could before he looked up, eyes instantly landing on Shinigami's. Not a drop of blood had even landed on the God of Death. How was he able to remain clean when so much blood littered the ground. The smell was worse than that of the battlefield making Heero have to force himself not to hurl. How could such a horrid being share the same body as Duo? Coughing and pushing up to his hands and knees, Heero glared at Shinigami.

_I have to find a way to get Duo back._

He could swear he'd only blinked his eyes for a second but as soon as they had opened up again he found Shinigami's face right in front of his, the death god being knelt down so he was face to face with the fallen soldier.

"Looks like the little pawn couldn't live without me," Shinigami said, dark eyes staring straight into Heero's as if trying to read his very soul. But then Shinigami sort of looked frustrated for a second. "You are definitely a tough one, little toy."

Heero glared at him then reached down grabbing the hilt of his sword though unable to pull it free as the death god's hand rested over his. "Return Duo's body to him," Heero said threateningly.

"Why should I?" Shinigami asked before reaching his other hand and touching it to Heero's cheek. "I'm having far too much fun playing with the little pawn's favorite little boy toy."

Narrowing his eyes, Heero stared up at him suspiciously, his head tilting back so that he wasn't being touched. "I am not a boy toy."

"Mmm…either way, I will have you." Standing to his feet, Shinigami started to walk a circle around Heero, barely taking notice when the soldier stood to his feet. "Even if I were to give up the body now," Shinigami said stopping as he turned looking over his shoulder at Heero. "I can take over at any time now, thanks to the little pawn using the cross."

"I'm not allowing you to kill anyone," Heero said as he pulled his glowing sword free, feeling the warmth flowing into his body. "I'll kill you before I allow that!"

"Could you really kill me knowing that I share a body with your little braided friend?" Shinigami asked, a smug smile lifting to his face before he turned his back again. "Do you even think you could kill death itself? I choose what I want to live and what I want to die. If I so felt the need I'd kill you too, my perfect toy."

"Then what's stopping you?" Heero asked, as he tightened his hand around the hilt of the sword glaring at the monster in Duo's body.

"As I said before, you're a tough one. You're an enigma to me. Somehow, there's a barrier preventing me from gaining access to your soul. But I will have you either way, don't worry." Turning, Shinigami brought up his hand, stopping the sword that'd come so close to piecing him without even a blink of an eye. So much for a surprise attack. "Your eyes, they're so clear and innocent despite everything you've been through. They're perfect…as well as your body." Heero kept glaring as he pulled the blade away, noticing that not a drop of blood fell from Shinigami's hand. "I will claim them as my own when the time has come." Glancing around, Shinigami seemed to survey the surrounding before he frowned. "Since I do not sense any more living souls within the vicinity…and do not wish to venture out myself, I will return this pitiful pawn's body to him."

Heero snorted. "You done talking you? You're worse than that braided idiot is."

"So you say now," Shinigami said leaning close and bringing his lips close to Heero's though not allow them to touch. Despite that this was Shinigami, knowing that it was Duo's body still caused Heero to tense up at the sudden action. "But I know where your true feelings lie," Shinigami whispered, his hot breath blowing across Heero's lips causing the other to close his eyes despite himself. "In the end, you'll have to decided whether we live or we die." Shinigami stepped back from him, the smirk already lifting to his lips at the reaction he'd gained. "Decide quickly because next time things won't turn out so well…for you or your friends." As the words were said, the darkness surrounding Duo's body seemed to vanish, being sucked back into him. A breath escaped Duo's lips before he fell forward, Heero's body the only reason he didn't collide with the ground. With a grunt, Heero carefully picked Duo up in his arms then turned starting to head back towards the torn palace.

Shinigami…seemed to know a lot of things about him. Now he was being left with the choice of killing Duo himself or letting him live. But even if Duo was killed, wouldn't Shinigami still come back? Or was there something different about him that made it where Shinigami couldn't return? He wasn't ready to test it out either way. Holding the unconscious Duo to him carefully he went to find out where Wufei and the others were located. They needed to regroup and think of another plan before moving on to their next location.

_Either way, we've got a lot of work ahead of us._

TBC….

Yeah so Shinigami got to talk to Heero one on one for the first time. Mmm…hehe and Quatre's slapping people, wow. Mmmm I think I'm pretty pleased with this chapter and I'm thankful to all of you who are reading and have been reading this uh…series, yeah. I thank you all as well as my reviews whom this wouldn't be possible without because I'm lazy and reviews push me to want to get the chapter out.


	17. Spellcaster 17

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: Story up for three years and still going? Should I be proud?

Author's comments: Ok so it's been a couple of months…I'm lazy so sue me. Hehe consider this an Xmas give if I do finish this in time, I'm sure I can do it::pep talk:: Yeah, alright!

Extra note: This chapter winded up being too long for So I've separated it into two different chapters, else it woulda just ended in the middle of a sentence.

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap"_ Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 17

Most of the people who had lived and managed to escape were now gathered in a single area, each trying to calm themselves in their own way. Wufei and the others of their group weren't any different. They sat around their own campfire, lost in thought. The only sounds they could hear were the sounds of the fire crackling illuminating the night sky that somehow had creeped up on them. There were too many questions rising up in Wufei's mind. Heero had told him earlier that there were things about Duo that he didn't know. And that smile…that sinister smile that spoke of something bad to come…why was such a smile on the gentle face of the playful thief? There was no way he could be human, not with the way he was moving around that dragon.

_Exactly what is he?_

Wufei glanced across the fire towards the fallen figure lying there covered in a blanket. Most of Solo's wounds had been fixed up, a healing spell by the Healers at the palace doing the trick. There were still a few bruises here and there but nothing major. After all, the Healers had a long night ahead of them having to heal all the injured people still alive. He found his eyes staring at the side of Solo's head, towards the hidden ears Wufei knew were there. Quatre had been the one to show him, unknown to the male sleeping soundly on the hard ground. And after a few words, Quatre also revealed that Duo was an elf too, but that he was hiding his identity so that people wouldn't find out and try to kill him…or worse.

_No, there's something else about him. I don't know why, but I feel like there's more to it than him just being an elf. There's something…wrong with him._

Sighing, Wufei laid back resting his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky just barely visible through the trees overhead. Heero had made it back safely with Duo in his arms. His only words upon returning were that the dragon had been defeated. There was neither details into how nor an explanation to the fact that he was covered in blood whereas Duo was almost spotless except where he brushed against Heero.

Heero had laid Duo down beside his elfin friend and gave only a quick, "I'm going to go wash up," before he was off again disappearing into the wooded area. Naturally, Heero would have learned of the lake nearby through his years of training and being able to pick up on just the littlest of sounds. Wufei was the same way, though he admitted that Heero's sense of hearing was just a little stronger. With Heero gone, that left only Trowa and Quatre. A turn of the head showed Trowa sitting in front of the fire, his legs crossed as he poked at the fire with a stick. Obviously he was just as lost in thought as everyone else, his visible green eye captivated by the flames licking up around the stick. Quatre was no where in sight, forced into the protective arms of his father by none other than the bodyguards sworn to protect him. Apparently it wasn't safe for the young prince to be out with a bunch of strange weirdos from a foreign country.

_I hate rich snobs…._

However, Quatre being there might have helped the tension in the air just a little bit. At least he would have tried to cheer everyone up out of habit. Even Duo might have helped, though with Solo around it might not have turned out all that good of a cause. Sitting up, Wufei reached into the bag beside him and pulled out a couple of apples sitting one in his lap.

"Hey," he said, tossing the apple when Trowa looked over in his direction. Trowa easily caught the apple giving a nod of thanks before looking towards the fire again. "What are you thinking about?" Wufei asked, though feeling a little weird having to be the one to cut down the tension.

"Nothing," was the reply he received as Trowa bit into the apple. He figured the conversation would be case closed after that, but Trowa seemed content to keep it up. Maybe he felt the tension too. "You?"

"Me?" Wufei frowned slightly staring down at the apple in his lap. "I'm trying to figure out all this mess. Exactly what is going on? Why are we here?"

"We're here to do a mission," Trowa said, no emotions showing on his face except for the slightly amused look in his eye.

"Yeah but we've been running into a lot of obstacles on the way. For instance, this dragon, that weird spirit girl, the monsters. What the hell are we going to run into next?" Wufei scowled and took a big chomp out of his apple. "And how do we even know we're doing the right thing? We're going to the mountains on a hunch Heero gave us. Exactly what does he expect to find there?"

Trowa shrugged his shoulders taking another bite from the apple as he looked into the fire again. "Maybe we're not supposed to know. If the leading officer doesn't want to give out information, who are we to want to force an explanation out of him?"

"And so we're blinding following a man who probably doesn't even know what he's doing." He stared down at the apple. "On top of that, we have two suspicious elves following us, our horses are missing, we have a prince as our representative and we haven't seen Milliardo at all on this journey."

"Not everything is going to be a clear cut road for us," Trowa said quietly as he tossed the apple core into the fire. Turning he laid down resting on his side, his back to Wufei as he continued with what he was saying. "Sometimes there's a dead end. In those cases, we don't have a chose but to take another route."

Frowning, Wufei looked down at his half eaten apple, not really wanting to finish it but not wanting it to go to waste. With a sigh he took another bite from it, his eyes resting on Trowa's back. "If we keep taking all these new routes we're going to wind up being killed one way or another." When he didn't get a reply he just shook his head and started to take another bite. Before he could even sink his teeth into the apple he looked towards the elves and froze where he was. Duo was sitting up staring over the fire at him. Wufei tried to look away from the eyes staring into his own feeling as though death was staring him down. The apple slipped from his hand and he looked picking it up. It had to be less than two seconds but when he lifted his head again a sleepy Duo was looking towards him. The intense eyes were gone, only the grumpy elf boy being left.

"Where's Heero?" Duo asked softly, covering his mouth with a hand as he felt a yawn slipping free.

"He…he went to wash up," Wufei said carefully, his eyes watchful of the braided one. What had that been? That stare, the look of death in Duo's eyes…had he just imagined it?

_No, that felt too real._

A worried look entered Duo's eyes as he pressed a finger against his lips, his eyes loosing focus for only a second before he trained them on Wufei again. "Is he ok? Where's Quatre? Did everyone make it out safely?"

"Everyone's ok," Wufei replied watching the elf stand to his feet. Duo gave an over-exaggerated stretch, his arms reaching up to the sky before he glanced around. Something seemed different about him, something Wufei couldn't put his finger on. Well for one thing, when was the last time Duo actually went looking for Heero unless it was out of anger?

"I'm gonna go see how Heero's doing then," Duo said already starting to walk off.

_I think Heero's still cleaning up. Should I be letting him out of my sight?_

"He should be almost done just wait-"

"What are you doing up?" Heero came out through the trees completely cleaned of the dragon's blood and dripping wet from his head down. Naturally he had his sword strapped at his side, his hand resting lightly on the hilt ready to be used if necessary. Normally, Heero only rested his hand on his sword when he felt a threat.

_Is he considering Duo a threat now?_

Heero sent his glare towards Duo, noticing the other didn't make a move to answer him. In fact, Duo seemed a little surprised to see Heero back so soon. "Lay back down you stupid thief."

"What the- here I was worried about you and you're gonna just treat me like that?!" Duo rested his hands on his hips glaring at Heero in return reminding Wufei of a nagging wife. In fact, if Duo had the apron and maybe a more innocent face, he could probably pass for one.

…_well that hair of his can get confusing sometimes._

"If you're planning to argue then do it someplace else." Wufei said frowning as he looked back and forth the commander and the elf. "People are trying to sleep." Heero snorted but kept walking going over to a tree where he sat down. Duo sent him a glare but leader boy was already on auto-ignore mode as he rested his sword beside him and folded his arms closing his eyes.

"…Jerk." With a huff, Duo stomped off heading for the trees.

"H-Hey, where are you going?!" Wufei yelled after him, already starting to get up.

"I'm going to wash up!" Duo yelled turning and baring his teeth angrily. He was obviously frustrated. You didn't even have to look at the fact that he was tugging on his braid to notice. "Or is that a crime now?" He turned his heated stare on Heero again. When other didn't make a move to acknowledge him he growled and turned continuing to stomp off.

"Wait, but-"

"Let him go," Heero said, his eyes opening as he stared straight ahead. "That idiot should be allowed to think on all the stupid things he did."

"You're being a little rough on him," Wufei replied glancing over at him. "He's not one of your soldiers."

"He's still considered a convict until he's in the safe custody of a cell."

"There's something about him you're not telling us." Wufei watched him carefully, not catching any betraying actions yet knowing what he said was true. "I may not be obligated to know, but if it has anything to do with our safety, it would be a wise decision to let us know of the dangers before something bad happens."

"…."

* * *

"Stupid, annoying, jerk faced, pigheaded, bastard!" Duo continued grumbling under his breath as he walked, heading towards the sounds of water that his elfin ears were so good at picking up on. "No good, son of a whore, stick in the mud!"

Duo stopped walking, his forehead creasing with his frown as he glared ahead of him into the darkness. "I can't believe that jerk! And after I tried to be nice to him, this is the way he treats me! I oughta run away and show him what a real pain in the ass I can be!"

_"Pain in the ass…yes that sounds exactly like you."_

_Shut up! I wasn't talking to you!_

_"My my, someone woke up on the wrong side of the campfire. Did you already forget what happened?"_

_What are you…? _Duo frowned. That's right…he should have died. But he called on Shinigami again…which mean that…

_"That's right, little pawn. The game's almost over, I almost have full control of your body. Isn't that exciting?"_

_Hell no that's not exciting!_ Duo growled hearing the laughter in his head…but the growl froze on his lips as he felt his hand twitching, moving on its own. He felt his eyes widened in surprise as he felt the hand slip beneath his shirt and brush gently against his stomach. _W-what are you doing?!_

_"Awww, you don't like this game, little pawn?" _

The fingers danced gently across his stomach freely as the rest of his body was taken over and pulled taunt. _N-No! Stop! This is too weird!_

_"If you say please, I might."_

When he didn't say anything, he felt nails digging into his skin and pulling hard causing his body to tremble at the pain. He couldn't scream…no Shinigami wouldn't allow him to scream, closing the sound off in his throat and allowing only a small whimper to escape. Given free movement of his head, Duo looked down past the pulled up shirt and saw the five nail marks scratched across his stomach, blood already oozing from the open wounds.

_"Come on, little pawn, just say that one simple word and I'll stop."_

Again the nails scratched across his skin, causing tears to appear in his eyes as he tensed up more against the pain. He could see the skin being torn right before him, could feel it as the nails dug even deeper into him.

_Please…_

_"What was that? I didn't quiet here you." _The nails moved carelessly across his skin creating more marks, blood sliding down his tummy and gathering on his pants adding to the blood that was already there from the dragon.

_I-I said please! Please stop! It hurts!_

_"Hmm…well I am feeling generous today."_

His fingers finally relented, his body being freed from his captor as he fell to his knees thankful for the blessed relief from the torture he'd endured.

_"Oh but don't get too comfortable. Just remember what I can do to you if you continue to…defy me."_

Duo said nothing, sitting there as he rubbed at his eyes to try and stop the tears. The pain wasn't dying down but at least it wasn't being made worse. With a sigh and nod of his head in compliance with Shinigami, Duo stood to his feet again moving slowly towards the water before he fell again. He took off his shirt first and started to cleanse the wounds, wincing in pain as the water sent a burning sensation through the cuts.

_"Once you're done cleaning yourself, take me back to our little toy. I would like to…observe him more."_

TBC…

Ok and that's the end of the first part of the chapter.


	18. Spellcaster 18

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: Story up for three years and still going? Should I be proud?

Author's comments: Continuing….

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap"_ Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 18

"…So…now he's being possessed by the god of death…and you didn't tell me this, why?"

"Because it wasn't necessary for you to know," Heero said, grunting when the other gave him a frown. It wasn't just that…it had been a request by Duo himself not to tell the others. No, he wanted to feel like he was normal…something Heero felt obligated to help him with. But now the tables were changing. Duo would have less control of his body now, given that he'd used the cross once again to summon Shinigami. Seeing it with his own eyes again only confirmed even more that Duo was dangerous. Possibly the only thing that could save them would be to confine Duo to a cell away from others…or to completely disembody him so that Shinigami had no body to take over.

Neither idea seemed tempting leaving Heero to only run in more circles. With the way the journey was going, he wouldn't be surprised if Duo had no choice but to use Shinigami one last time…. There was still a part of it that confused Heero though. What happened to Duo each time he used the cross? He knew that Shinigami became more a part of Duo each time…but there was only so much space for two spirits in one body, right? Did a part of Duo disappear? Would Duo disappear completely once Shinigami took over? He wasn't ready to try that idea out…but he had a feeling that he'd have the answer sooner than he'd want to.

"So…what do we do about it now?" Wufei frowned lying on his back again as he raised up a hand looking at his fingers. "We're not going to accomplish anything by killing him, that'd just make it worse."

"But if he uses the cross again, he'll turn into Shinigami anyway."

"What if we take his cross then?" Wufei asked glancing over slightly.

"Then we'll probably wind up killing him at that point. The cross is pretty much a part of him, his life now."

"Like a heart…" Wufei frowned. "How would we know that if we haven't even tried it?"

"It's a feeling…." Heero stood to his feet carefully. "He's been gone too long. I'm going to go look for him."

"I'll go." Heero and Wufei both looked over seeing Solo standing there slightly bent over and looking completely drained if a lot better injury wise.

"How long have you been awake?" Heero asked, giving Solo a look.

"Long enough," Solo replied giving him the look in return. "If Duo's missing then I'll go look for him."

"I already said I'd go," Heero returned, the look starting to turn into more of a glare now. "You're too weak to do anything."

"I said I'm going," Solo said, the glare growing in his eyes now. "I have a better chance. I'm an elf and I'm his best friend. He won't hurt me."

"You're so sure about that but I do recall that Shinigami killed you without a second thought the last time you met up with him."

"Almost killed," Solo said already starting away. "And that was only because Duo had no control at all. He still has control of his body no matter what Shinigami says."

Heero snorted in reply turning his head away and folding his arms, looking like he was pouting as strange as that was. Not that he was pouting. If the stupid elf wanted to get killed by another stupid elf then so be it. "Fine. But if you get killed, it's on you. I could care less one way or the other."

"As you wish." Solo smirked winning the battle as he headed into the trees. Actually Heero almost hoped he did get killed…at least that'd be one less annoyance for him to deal with.

"Are you sure that's a good idea letting him go like that?" Wufei asked giving him a sideways glance.

"It's not my problem," Heero said easily as he took his sword resting it across his lap. "It'll be his own fault if he gets killed. He knows what Shinigami is capable of." Heero frowned slightly. "Any information on Quatre?"

"He hasn't returned since those guys took him," Wufei said folding his arms across his chest. "Chances are they aren't planning on letting the prince out of their sight again. It's a wonder he even made it to the OZ kingdom. Those guys do some creepy things but they're pretty good when it comes to a fight."

"Knowing Quatre, he'll find a way." Standing to his feet, he took hold of his sword as he started walking heading in the direction of the small lake.

"Going to check on them?" Wufei asked, sounding as if he already knew this would happen. Then again, Wufei was good like that. Both Wufei and Trowa were calm and observant…though Trowa seemed to be less attentive when it came to Quatre. Naturally…Quatre was the same. Wait, Quatre could feel people's feelings, right? Maybe he should ask him about this Solo guy…and maybe Shinigami too.

"Yeah. I'll be back in a minute."

* * *

Duo sighed, closing his eyes and calming his nerves. It had taken him a while to calm down enough to wash himself up cleansing himself of the blood that had been spilled not too long ago by both the dragon and Shinigami. He was still shaken up though, his hands trembling as he slipped his shirt back on not even bothering with tying up the strings at the top. No his body was in a trance, moving sluggishly as he mind kept thinking back to Shinigami. To be so powerless to control his own body sent fear through him he didn't know he had. Shinigami could easily take over any time he wanted, could even kill him if he wanted to. It was making Duo afraid to be around himself and intensified his fears of being around the others.

_W-what if he decides to kill them?_

_"It is a possibility, little pawn. It's not often I get to draw blood."_

Duo didn't give a reply, too afraid of Shinigami taking over again. No, he had to learn self-control. Shinigami didn't have complete control of his body so shouldn't he be able to reject him still?

_What'll happen to me…if I use Shinigami again…?_

"Duo." Hearing his name, Duo turned at the sound standing quickly and pulling free his dagger, a dangerous look entering his eyes before the look disappeared replaced with relief as he saw Solo standing there.

"Solo…." Solo gave a small smile, a hand resting on his hips as he stared at Duo. He was definitely looking a lot better than when the dragon had got hold of him. The wounds he'd suffered were pretty much completely gone and, besides the more obvious paleness in Solo's cheeks, he looked perfectly fine now.

"No need to get defensive, it's just me," Solo said starting towards him. "I guess you're done washing up now."

"Y-yeah…" Duo said softly, glancing down towards the ground. Seeing Solo walking around and apparently well did make Duo feel a little better. He'd been worried before when he saw Solo go down before the dragon.

_And he did it for me. He saved me even after all the problems I caused._

"What's the matter?" Solo said, frowning when he stopped in front of him and bending down to look up at Duo's face. "You still worrying that this is your fault?"

"It's not like anyone else can take the blame," Duo whispered finding his eyes meeting up with Solo's. "I mean, if I hadn't been in that city then that dragon wouldn't have come there and all those people would have still been alive."

"Then I guess it's our fault too," Solo said frowning as he rested his hands behind his head. "After all, we're the ones who brought you to the city in the first place. But it's not like any of us knew there'd be a rampaging dragon there."

"But…either way everything's my fault." Clenching his hands at his sides, Duo shut his eyes tight trying to get himself under control to keep from crying. He never had been big on the emotional need to cry…yet there were times the tears just came. Like the time he'd thought Solo had died…and the time Sister Helen and Father Maxwell had been killed. "It's my fault because I used Shinigami. If I had never used him none of this would have happened!" He didn't even realized he'd started yelling as he opened his eyes, glaring past Solo towards the trees, his eyes blinking rapidly to keep the tears of frustration at bay. "I used Shinigami and caused people to die! I'm no better than a murderer! I selfishly used Shinigami for my own needs time and again! Even to save myself! I-I should never have held the cross in the first place! I should have died with you!"

"Stop it!" Solo yelled out angrily as he grabbed hold of Duo's shoulders shaking him. "Stop saying nonsense! You haven't done anything wrong! You haven't!" Duo stared at him in surprise, realizing he felt wetness running down his cheeks from the tears that had escaped him. He wanted to reach up, to wipe them away…but he felt too drained to even try.

In shame he turned his head away, sniffing slightly. "Solo…I'm weak. I-I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. Why am I even here? I can't protect these guys I consider friends. Instead, I'm causing them even more problems and danger. I'm even hurting you, my best friend." Duo turned his head staring at Solo and swallowed slightly, a slight hiccup escaping his lips. "Why do you even put up with me at all?"

"Because you're my best friend," Solo said softly, giving him a weak smile as he reached up brushing away Duo's tears with his hands. "We've known each other for a long time, since we were little. Even if we have been away from each other for this long, it feels like I've been with you all this time."

Duo sniffed smiling softly in return as he felt the warm fingers of his friend brushing his cheek. "Yeah. I'm glad to have you for a friend…. I don't know what I'd do without ya." Leaning against him, Duo wrapped his arms around Solo pulling him into a tight hug and resting his head on Solo's shoulder as he closed his eyes. "I…I hope you never leave my side."

"I don't plan on it," Solo said returning the hug. "I plan to stick around for a long time. You'll have to get a crowbar to get me away."

Duo tensed in his arms, biting at his lips as he kept his hold on Solo. "You…promise?"

"I promise." Solo frowned pulling back enough so that he could see Duo's face. The frown deepened when he saw Duo look away from him. "What's wrong? Is there something else you're not telling me?"

"I…I used Shinigami again…."

"What?! When?!"

"When…after you got knocked out." Duo didn't try to look at him, not wanting to see that worried look in his friend's eyes. He felt his arms trembling and pulled back hugging himself hoping to still it. "I went to help Heero and Wufei and…well…." He moved away turning his back as he started walking towards the lake. "When I almost got killed I…I used him again…."

"There was nothing else you could do," Solo said carefully, frowning when Duo didn't turn around to look at him. He started walking over towards him but stopped when he was a few steps behind him. Something was wrong. There was something more to this, something more to Duo. "Did…anything else happen?"

Duo didn't move or said anything for a moment, staring out at the little lake. The air was silent around them besides the sounds of the water moving before them. Solo shifted his position slightly, the action acting as a catalyst as Duo turned around to face him a determined look in his eyes. "Solo…."

"Yes?" Solo frowned at the seriousness he saw there, completely unlike the big eyed, crying boy he'd seen standing here not even two minutes ago.

"Shinigami's taking over," Duo said then reached down holding the bottom of his shirt and pulling it up showing the nail marks Shinigami had left. Solo's eyes widened at that, his mouth dropping open in shock. The marks were so deep and yet done in such a way it was like a symbol had been left on Duo's body, a marking. There was no way it was a simple injury nor did Solo think Duo would do something like this to himself. "Shinigami can take control of my body whenever he wants to now," Duo continued as he let the shirt drop down again. He himself didn't even make a glance at the marking, as if afraid of what he'd see. "It…might be too dangerous to be around me."

"Duo…"

"But there is something else!" Duo continued, his voice growing with a sense of urgency. The pleading look seemed to join the serious look in Duo's eyes as he continued to watch Solo. "I've learned recently that as long as I'm around you Shinigami doesn't do anything! He doesn't talk to me! So…so maybe he won't take over again as long as I stay beside you!"

This piece of news was definitely new to Solo as the confusion filled his eyes. "What?"

"I'm….not sure about the distance…." Duo scratched behind his head, sounding confused himself for a moment. "But I don't have to be right on you…just near you." The pleading look grew in Duo's eyes along with a bit of fear. Was he afraid of being rejected by his best friend? Or was just afraid of Shinigami taking over, of Shinigami growing angry with him? "Please let me stay beside you! At least until we can find a way to stop Shinigami completely!"

"Duo…" Solo shook his head slowly before a smirk lifted to his lips. "Of course I'll stay beside you. I wouldn't have it any other way." He rubbed under his nose smugly as he saw the surprise and the happy smile lifting to Duo's lips, knowing that he was the cause of it. "Afterall, who else is going to protect you? Besides, you're my best friend. I'd never abandon you."

"Solo…" The name was said softly, Duo's eyes growing watery before he rubbed at them quickly to stop the tears from starting anew. "Thank you!" Moving quickly, Duo grabbed Solo into a hug again, squeezing hold tightly in happiness. "You're the best friend a guy could have!" Duo didn't notice the redness of Solo's cheeks or the affectionate look he was being given as he rested his head on Solo's shoulder. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Psh, I know. You'd be stuck with that annoying guy you call a friend," Solo said, obviously referring to Heero.

"He's not that bad," Duo said, wiggling his nose slightly. "Even if he is an asshole…a jerk…a prick…a bastard…"

Solo laughed softly. "Keep going, I think I'm changing my view of him."

"…Not that I cared what you thought of me in the beginning," a voice said from behind him causing the two of them to turning and see Heero standing there glaring at them.

"Speak of the devil," Duo mumbled. He seemed to be back in his good cheer again, his eyes glowing the brightest they had since their reunion. "Hey Heero, what are you doing out here? I thought you were done washing up by now."

Heero didn't replied immediately, giving the two of them a look, especially Solo who gave him a smug little smirk in return. "Whatever. Get back to camp and go to sleep. We're leaving first thing in the morning."

"Geez, you're worse than a mom." Duo sighed and reached down grabbing hold of Solo's hand and giving it a tug. "Let's go before mommy Heero sends us to bed without our supper."

"You go on ahead," Solo said, gently tugging his hand free. He tried to ignore the frown Duo sent him or the hurt look he received as he gave him a smile of reassurance. "I need to ask him a few questions before I head back. I promise I won't take long."

"…Ok." Duo said slowly still frowning. He was probably curious about what the two of them had to talk about, but he didn't say anything else as he turned heading back towards camp, his damp ponytail brushing back and forth against his ass.

"How much did you hear?" Solo asked, though his eyes watched Duo leaving through the trees seeing much more than Heero's human eyes could see.

"Enough," Heero said folding his arms and glaring. "Despite the fact that I still don't trust you…if what Duo said was true then I'll have no choice but to entrust him to you."

"Oh wow, thanks…like I was asking for your permission." Solo rolled his eyes enjoying the fact that it seemed to make the anger in Heero's eyes intensify. "But it might be a good idea for you to keep an eye on him too. Shinigami's not something to sneeze at."

"I know that." Heero said snorting slightly. "I've seen what he could do on two accounts already, up close and personal. He's a strong enemy."

"Seen…" Solo frowned looking at Heero suspiciously. "What do you mean? Everyone who's ever seen Shinigami has always died. How in the world did you survive it twice?"

"That's none of your business," Heero said, the glare still in his eyes. "Go back to camp and keep an eye on Duo. There's no telling when Shinigami might decide to awaken."

"Fine, I'll go," Solo said, frowning deepily as he thought about it. "But only for Duo. Keep in mind that I'm only here for Duo." Solo walked past him but stopped just before going into the trees. "But if you guys try anything funny, I'll leave and take him with me. If all he needs to keep Shinigami away is to be with me, then we don't need you guys." Solo left leaving Heero to stand there alone and glaring after him.

"Throw your trust in too deepily and you might wind up getting yourself killed one way or another," Heero said softly as he headed back to camp. Whether the words were for Solo or for himself, he didn't know. All he knew was that he'd have to keep special watch for both the elves.

TBC…

Um…Three and a half months but that's not too long…right? Anyway, part 17 is down. Wow, I didn't know I'd written this many chapters. Thankies to all my reviewers once again And I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Merry Christmas!


	19. Spellcaster 19

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: Story up for three years and still going? Should I be proud or embarrassed it's taking me this long to finish it? Maybe, if I stopped starting new stories so much.

Author's comments: Continuing…cause like…I so should. Hehe…

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap"_ Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 19

"Let's go," Heero said as he got up. The fire the little group was surrounding had already begun to die down, their rest time was over. It'd been a restless night but each of them had managed to get a little rest, each taking turns holding up the watch set up by Heero himself. He thought it was wise that he excluded both Solo and Duo from the watch, which wasn't too much of a surprise for both elves. After all, Duo still had the problem with Shinigami, Solo or not. And Solo…was still not to be trusted. Jealously or not, there was still something about Solo that Heero didn't like.

It could have been the fact had he seemed to get all of Duo's attention…but it wasn't just that. It was more a feeling he got, a feeling he was obligated to follow. Lately it seemed that the sword was responding to him a bit. At first, when he'd felt the slight heat coming from the sword, he'd thought it was due to Shinigami. But now, occasionally he thought he heard a whisper from the sword telling him not to trust him, not to trust Solo. The little girl's spirit, a soul of the sword, had to be who was communicating with him.

"Heh?!" Duo blinked, staring up at him with wide eyes from his place beside Solo, something Heero still tried to ignore. Why couldn't it have been him that kept the evil Shinigami away? Why was it Solo? What about him made him special, enough so that he could keep Shinigami from showing up? "But we barely had a chance to even rest!" Duo yelled out, a pout lifting to his lips. "At least let us rest up a little longer!"

Heero scowled, looking from how closely Duo sat to Solo. "We don't have time for rest. If we don't hurry, then more counties will fall." Heero let his eyes glance over all of them present. "That would defeat the purpose of us coming out here in the first place."

"He's right," Wufei agreed as he stood up, knowing all too well how correct Heero was. "We haven't even come close to finding an answer." He frowned slightly after he said that, his ebony eyes looking at Heero. "Also, we haven't had a chance to contact King Treize in a while."

"How do we even know we're going to the right place?" Trowa added in, giving Heero his attention. "What are we supposed to find?"

"Yeah, I told you before that I'm the last elf," Duo added in.

"We're the last elves," Solo corrected earning himself a small smile from the younger elf.

"We're not going to the elfin village," Heero said gaining everyone's attention again. "At least, not anymore." He walked away from the fire a little ways and frowned before looking back at them. "There's another place we're going. It should be close to the elfin village." He closed his eyes tilting his head up towards the sky, for a moment feeling like he could just fly away. But then again, he didn't like showing that side of himself so he just stood there, letting the rays from the sun shine on him through the trees for a moment before he opened his eyes. "It's a place I've been to before, when I was a kid in training. I went there with a man named Lowe. They have scholars who know about all kinds of things there. If anyone can help, they can."

"Oh that place," Solo said though his eyes went wide in awe. "How the heck did you manage to get into a place like that. They don't just let anyone in, trainee or not."

"That's not the matter right now," Heero said turning and glaring at him. "What's important right now is getting their help. That's our new mission."

"What about Quatre?" Trowa asked causing the others to look at him. Heero frowned slightly. Despite the fact that Trowa wasn't showing any emotions, it was obvious that he was worried about the young blond.

"Yeah," Duo said frowning too, "and our horses?" Heero glanced at him, taking in his darkened eyes and his messy hair along with a few cuts and bruises. He knew Duo was tired, wished he could help him out somehow, but there was no helping it now, not where they were going.

"The horses have to stay. The rest of the trip is up a mountain." He couldn't help it as he gave Duo a sympathetic look, despite the other's shock at seeing the expression. Why was it that Duo could make him do such things anyway? "Quatre is taking care of the horse situation," Heero said looking over at Trowa. The only reason he knew that was because he'd actually met up with Quatre during his watch. The other had seemed pretty preoccupied. There was obviously more he was going to do than just watch some horses. He'll meet up with us after he's done with that."

"So our only option is to head out," Wufei said frowning.

Heero nodded. "We'll use the four star formation."

"Excuse me," Duo said blinking in confusion. "The….what formation?"

"Four star formation," Heero said explaining. "I'll take the lead. Trowa will take the left position and will keep watch to the left. Wufei will take the rear and Duo will take the right. When Quatre return, he'll be at the center."

"Wait," Duo said turning glaring eyes to Heero. "Since when do I take orders from you?"

Out of habit, Heero found himself returning the glare, which ended up not being too hard since Solo gently rested a hand on Duo's shoulder to help calm him.

"Since you decided to follow us. Now shut up and follow orders."

"Hmph!" The glare didn't leave Duo's eyes but he did give a sadistic grin as he gave Heero a mock glare. "Yes sir, Mr. Pain in the ass, sir!"

_I should just kill him and be done with it._

Narrowing his eyes, Heero clenched his hands slightly to resist that very tempting thought as he turned around starting to walk off. "Let's go."

* * *

"Father! We can't continue to ignore the problems at hand!" Clenching his hands, Quatre stared at his father with pleading eyes, trying his hardest to get through to the stubborn man. But he knew he should have known better. It had always been hard to get his father to listen to him…ever since…. "I know you want to keep me safe…but I have to go with them! We have to stop whatever terrible thing is about happen from happening!"  
"Those men are nothing but a nuisance, Quatre!" His father glared back at him, his two personal bodyguards standing on either side of him. "If you ask me, they're more a threat than any army or monster! We've never been attacked by a dragon before." He closed his eyes, cupping his hands underneath his chin as he sat comfortable in the only chair that was provided…for the king of course. "But ever since they showed up-"

"Whether or not the dragon was after them, doesn't mean they're bad people!" Why?! Why did this have to be so complicated?! If he'd just open his pig eyes and see; he'd know the problem plaguing the world! People were starting to not care, were starting to kill for no reason! And that was something that was completely unacceptable! It was as if the people were being possessed by demons! "The dragon was the one that did the killing, not them!"

"Quatre, I don't want to hear it," the king said as he rubbed at his temple, feeling the stress coming on. "You are not to go with them or anywhere near them." He opened his eyes glaring at his only son. "You are a pacifist. Your place is here, protecting your people and country."

His hands still clenched tightly at his sides, Quatre frowned turning his back on his father, knowing there was no changing that man's mind. But then, there was no changing his own mind either. Maybe they were more alike than they knew. "What would be the point," he said, "if the curse destroys us all." He closed his eyes giving a deep sigh, knowing what he was going to have to do. "I'm sorry, father, but I have to do this. I can't just sit here and watch people suffer…like you." He didn't give his father a chance to reply as he quickly ran off.

* * *

"Quatre! Quatre, get back here! Quatre!" The king's glaring eyes stared after his escaping son before he gave a sigh giving up. "That boy."

"Want us to bring him back for you, sir?" One of the guards said as he bowed slightly.

"Yes," the king replied, a dark cloud spinning in his eyes. "Bring Quatre back…and the boy with the cross."

"And the rest of them?"

The king shook his head throwing a hand up in dismissal. "You can kill them for all I care."

Giving another bow, a smirk lifted to the guard's lips. "As you wish, sir."

* * *

"…We're being followed," Trowa said frowning as his eyes looked through the trees catching sight of a few shadowy figures.

"I know," Heero said in reply as he glanced over his shoulder at him. "Just keep moving." He glanced around. "How many do you count?"

"About ten to the left."

"Fifteen to the rear of us," Wufei added.

"And about twenty-five on my side," Duo said frowning a bit. It figures he'd get the majority of the assholes on his side, not that he couldn't take care of himself. Hell, this would be a piece of cake.

_Or it would be if I didn't feel like I was having the energy drained out of me._

"Fifty in all," Heero said, causing Duo to have to focus again. "We could probably handle ten each…." He trailed off then, his glance falling on Duo over his shoulder before he frowned. Duo couldn't help the slight glare that filled his eyes. He had an idea of what Heero was thinking. The sexy brunet didn't want him to get too far away…he didn't want him taking any chances of Shinigami taking over. Frankly, Duo didn't want that either…maybe that's why he felt such frustration right now. No matter what, he'd be prohibiting Solo from moving freely. Not that Solo was really up to much himself, still looking pretty beat up from the other day.

"What?" Duo ground out, folding his arms over his chest and glaring, daring Heero to tell him to stay back. Like hell he'd allow himself to be treated like the girl who couldn't fight. "I can take care of myself. I'm not a kid."

"Besides," a voice said from beside him, an arm wrapping around Duo's waist causing him to blush slightly, "He's got me here to help him."

Despite the embarrassment, Duo found himself chuckling as he reached down gently resting a hand on top of Solo's. "Yeah, we make a great team." He almost regretted the action, when the look in Heero's eyes seemed to glow brighter with suppressed anger. He was enough to cause him to freeze up, growing worried that Heero was really about to snap this time.

"Whatever. Do what you want." Those were the words that escaped Heero's mouth, despite the clenching of his fist.

_Whoa, that's weird….._

"Can you handle the ones on your end?" Heero asked Trowa, as if the whole exchange hadn't just happened. Well…seemed like he was still a prick at least. Not that it was a good thing, naturally.

"It won't be a problem at all," Trowa said on his side.

Wufei smirked slightly, folding his arms over his chest. "I can handle these weaklings."

"It would be best if we can avoid fatal casualties."

"Agreed," Heero said nodding his head at Trowa. "That curse has probably spread this far. That means we don't have much time left. Let's finish this quickly but efficiently." Everyone split off then, Duo frowning as he noticed Heero following him and Solo. But he didn't have time to think about that long as he looked ahead seeing some of the soldiers watching them.

"Quick and Efficient, huh? That's my specialty." He smirked as he pulled a pouch from his pocket, easily jumping up the first tree he found. He jumped from tree to tree stealthily before stopping on a branch over the soldiers, being hidden by the leaves. He felt the tree shake a moment and glanced over seeing Solo, a smirk on his face as he pulled out his own pouch.

"Looks like you're thinking what I'm thinking," Solo whispered once he was settled comfortably.

"The Whirly Sleep Attack?" Duo whispered in return, eyes wide before he grinned. "Hell yeah! Let's do it!" He glanced down noticing the look on Heero's face, apparently his eyes fast enough to keep up with the two elves.

_Seems like he's even more amazing than I gave him credit for!_

"I'll give you the honor then," Solo said taking the other bag from him, a finger gently brushing against Duo's hand causing the braided wonder to jump slightly.

Blushing, Duo tried not to let the little touch bother him as he looked down through the trees staring at the soldiers. They seemed to be confused, trying to figure out where the enemy disappeared too. But that definitely wouldn't last long once Duo was finished with them.

"I know I won't get all of them," Duo explained as he closed his eyes holding up his hands and waving them around almost like he was setting up a pattern, "but I'll at least get about 15 of them if I'm lucky." As he kept waving his arms around, on the ground between the soldiers, a small little tornado was starting to form up, spinning easily with Duo's manipulation.

Once the little wind started to grow, unknown to the soldiers still looking around wildly for the enemy, Solo opened the bags pouring the contents down into the forming wind. "That's all of it."

"Then here goes!" Duo yelled out as he spread his arms wide, the little tornado swelling, not giving enough force to hurt anyone, but it was strong enough to push them around a bit, strong enough to send the powder stuff spreading out. "Heero, cover your face!" He didn't have time to check to see if Heero did what he told him, his eyes set in concentration as he kept watching, the wind not even touching the two of them as Solo set up a field around them, protecting them from the powder.

"What is this?!" A soldier yelled from somewhere below them.

"Ugh…."another soldier fell to the ground, causing the rest of them to look at him.

"What's the matter?! Get up!"

"Ahhh!" The yell caught everyone's attention as Duo looked over, staring as he saw Heero going through, knocking out soldiers lost in the confusion but not caught up in the tornado. And just like that it was over quickly. Several soldiers lay on the ground, knocked out either by Heero's brute force, or Solo and Duo's sleep spell. Once the wind died and everything settled down, the force field was let down and the two elves jumped down. Heero came over and, seeing the two elves standing with no cover, finally pulled his shirt down from his nose and mouth, completely covering that revealing sexy skin on his stomach that made Duo want to drool.

Sighing, Duo settled instead for giving Heero a cocky little smug look. "Mission Accomplished," he said smirking.

"Sleep powder," Heero said frowning a bit. "That's how you did it."

"Hey, whatever works," Duo said shrugging his shoulders. "It's something me and Solo did when we snuck out of the village."

"It was the only way at the time, that we could get out without being caught." He frowned glancing at Duo for a second. "When those guys came in and started slaughtering all the other elves." Duo glanced away, not really wanting to remember that time. He could remember the smell of blood… it'd been just as bad as what happened to the people of Maxwell Church…no, it'd been worse. There was carnage…cruel games played by the humans that despised the elves. Women were raped in front of their children then killed. Children were forced to see such acts and sometimes killed in front of their loving parents, in the most slow and painful way possible. And then sometimes they-

"Well, good job," Heero said bringing Duo away from his grim thoughts as he rested a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go help the others." Glancing up, Duo saw the concerned look in Heero's eyes. Oh yes, he'd been caught red-handed displaying his emotions again. Damn if he couldn't learn to keep himself under control. But staring into those cold blue eyes somehow gave him comfort as he gave Heero a smile and nodded his head, oblivious to Solo's glare in the soldier's general direction.

It wasn't until Heero had turned and walked away that Duo found his eyes growing wide. "Wait…Did…did the Ice Prince just compliment me?!"

"Sounds like it," Solo said snorting as he folded his eyes. "Though, I don't see the prince side."

"Jealous," Duo said grinning at him before he rested his hands behind his head starting after their leader. "Well, let's go save those guys. They'd be lost without us."

* * *

"Is this all of them?" Wufei asked, not even breaking of sweat as he glanced around at all the soldiers laying on the ground, amused by the idea that they would each be waking up with a severe headache.

"I think so."

"Hmm." Wufei glanced over at him before he smiled. "Nice work."

"You too," Trowa said giving him a small smile in return. Despite the two of them having traveled together for so long on this journey, they still barely knew a thing about each other. Still, Wufei felt like he could trust this man with his back at any time. And it would be likewise to think Trowa felt the same way. And the way Trowa moved around, it was like Wufei was watching a lion. But it was no match to Heero's own fighting skills, even when he was injured. He'd never seen a man who could heal from a wound so quickly like that. But then again, Heero was anything but normal. The man, the way he moved around when they were fighting that dragon, it was obvious why he was considered high in the rank of soldiers now. It was also why Treize considered him before anyone else for this mission. He could believe Heero to be able to succeed at this mission…and he was willing to follow the man to obtain that successful end.

"Guys!" The voice brought both males attention to the side as they saw a slim figure running towards them. "Oh my god, what happened?!"

"Quatre," Trowa said softly, sounding both relieved and happy at the same time. Strange, coming from a guy who lacked almost as much emotion as Heero seemed. But then again, the commander seemed to be showing some emotions with ease now that Duo seemed to be part of the group. Duo Maxwell…now that was a guy they needed to be careful of. Despite that easy smile, the elf was still dangerous. If they weren't careful, any one of them could die in an instant.

"Are you guys hurt?!"

"We're fine," Trowa reassured him looking down at a soldier by his foot. "These guys tried to attack us, though."

"These are our soldiers." Quatre frowned kneeling down, his expression changing slightly as he seemed to recognize some of his soldiers. "Why would they…." Suddenly, his eyes grew wide. "No…father…did he?"

"Sounds like your dad has a grudge against us," Wufei said frowning slightly. He didn't blame the man…after all, the dragon had been after Duo. If they hadn't came to the city, maybe they wouldn't have had to worry about this. They sacrificed so many lives for the sake of saving one.

_But if what Heero said was true then…letting him die would have ended up costing us a lot more lives._

"Are they…?" Reaching a hand out resting his fingers against the soldier's neck, he gave a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse. "They're alive."

"We only knocked them out." Reaching down, Trowa rested a hand on Quatre's shoulder. "There was no reason to kill them."

"My father." His shoulders shook slightly as Quatre glared at the ground. "How…could he-"

"He might be possessed by the curse too," Trowa quickly cut in, feeling the tension in the shoulder.

"And the only way to stop the curse," Wufei said glancing around to see if he could see the others yet, "is to keep going." His eyes rested on Quatre as he frowned slightly. "Do you think you can handle it without slowing us down?"

"Of course I can!" Standing up, Quatre gestured to the bow on his back. "I can do long range like it's nothing." Reaching at his side, he pulled the sword free that was at his hip, which looked unnaturally big in his hand considering his soft features. "And I was pretty good at fencing." He glared at Wufei. "So if you're thinking about leaving me behind, think again. I'll follow no matter what."

"Actually, Heero was the one who said you were coming with us."

"He…" The sword almost fell from his fingers as Quatre looked at them in shock. "He did?"

"Shocking, I know," Wufei said, a bit of his sarcasm coming out as he rolled his eyes.

"Welcome back to the group," Trowa said to the prince as he held out a hand to him. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do."

"Ah…thanks." The blond blushed as he gripped the hand and shook it in return, though he took his time pulling his hand away from the lingering touch.

"Anyway," Wufei said turning and starting off. "Let's get going before these guys wake up. Heero might need our help."

"Oh, he'll be fine without us," Trowa said following as he glanced at Quatre. "He's strong. He'll probably on his way to find us right now."

"Yeah, well…either way let's go."

* * *

"Bout time you guys showed up!" Duo jumped up as he saw the three of them walking towards them, the sound of the river they were gathered next to almost drowning out his voice. "Whoa, Q! I knew you'd make it!" He ran over pulling the other into a big bear hug. "Man you have no clue how boring it was without you!"

"Hey!" Solo frowned looking over at the two. "I'm not boring."

"Oh I'm just kidding," Duo said sticking his tongue out at him. "So you going with us right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Quatre smiled hugging him back. "So are we going now?"

Heero stood up walking over to the group. "Since everyone's here, we might as well."

"Yeah you know Mr. No Rest here," Duo said grinning as he rested an arm on Heero's shoulder. "Don't want to keep him from his job." He yawned stretching slightly.

"I'm afraid you won't be going any further," a voice said somewhere nearby causing the six boys to look around sharply.

"Who the hell are you?!" Duo yelled out, finding it hard to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, even with his elfin ears. He couldn't even see anything out of place!

_Oh damn this can't be good._

"Looking for me?!" Suddenly a shadow appeared from behind, a foot lifting quickly and spinning around kicking Duo hard in the face.

"Duo!" Quatre yelled out before he quickly pulled out his sword, the others quickly following his example, staring at the man standing where Duo had been, the uniform he was wearing showing he was a special guard to the king.

"Shit," Duo whispered slowly starting to get up, Heero in front of him, guarding him since he'd been the closest to him at the time. Solo started to move himself, but that was before the man held out his hand.

"Enjoy the waters of hell, elf," the man said as a dark ball formed in front of his outstretched hand before shooting from his hand hitting both Heero and Duo and knocking them back where they disappeared into the river.

"Duo!" was the last thing Duo heard before he was swallowed up by the water. The only bit of comfort he had was the feeling of a hand holding his as the two of them were swept away, following the flow of water.

TBC…..

Heh, the stopping point for now. Hehe, Merry Xmas!


	20. Spellcaster 20

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: Story up for three years and still going? Should I be proud or embarrassed it's taking me this long to finish it? Maybe, if I stopped starting new stories so much.

Author's comments: Probably the fastest update I've ever done…Sweet.

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap"_ Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 20

"You…" Quatre stood there standing in shock as he looked at the man, his sword lowering down to his side. "Mortimer…how could you?"

"Your father had wanted me to bring him back alive," the man said as he looked over towards the river where the two males had fell in. "But I'm sure he won't mind if I tell him it was a freak accident." A smirk lifted to his lips as he returned his attention to Quatre, the young prince watching him warily. "Elves just…aren't worth the effort." His eyes glanced over to Solo. "They're just so…useless…put on this planet to cause aggravation."

Solo frowned before his eyes widened and he gasped, backing away slowly. "No…it can't be…."

_What is he doing?_

Wufei blinked picking up on the action. Since the elf had started traveling with them, he'd never seen him react like that before. In fact, Solo was every as cocky as Duo could be, at least when it came to Heero. And the way those two were going at it back and forth, you'd think he wouldn't be freaking out over a guy like this. Heck, Wufei wouldn't have blamed him if he freaked out over that dragon but this guy?

_No...wait…there's something not right about this guy…._

Trowa frowned looking over at Solo, probably starting to pick up on it too. "What's wrong?" he said.

"He was there." Solo kept backing away, only stopping when he felt his back hit up against the tree behind him, his body trembling slightly. "He was part of the group that killed the elves!"

"Are you sure?" Wufei asked even though the fear in Solo's eyes seemed to say it all.

"Yeah I'm sure!" Solo yelled glaring over at Wufei before he slid down sitting, the heat in his eyes leaving as he just stared at the man with wide eyes. "I remember those eyes…the eyes of a murderer." Wufei frowned turning his attention back to the man, along with the others.

"Oh don't talk like that," the man said smirking as he pressed a thumb against his lips. "I was doing the world a favor by getting rid of your kind." Chuckling slightly, he reached up brushing his hair out of his eyes before shifting his body moving into a more comfortable pose. "Without your magic, the world won't be able to stop what is about to happen."

"…What do you mean by that?" Trowa asked looking at Mortimer.

"I'm saying…" Mortimer began with a grin, "that once Shinigami is freed from that stupid elf boy's body and brought under our control…no, never mind." He shook his head laughing slightly as he stared at them. "What use is information to dead men." He once again moved into a more threatening pose. "Stand back, young prince. I have to return you to your father."

"I'll fight!" Quatre yelled out earning a shocked look from Wufei who didn't expect to see or hear such determination from the tiny blond. He was definitely earning some respect and pride for Wufei. Any man willing to fight for a good and just cause could definitely be considered strong. "I won't let you hurt the people dear to me any longer!"

"Then prepare yourself for death!" As the words slipped from Mortimer's lips, the king's guard moved quickly running towards Quatre. "Consider it a favor that you'll die before you know true fear!" As the words were said, a sword appeared at Mortimer's hand, not giving Quatre time to figure out where it came from as the shiny blade started to come down on him.

* * *

Duo felt himself being pulled from the river and coughed spitting out water quickly, thankful for the help. He couldn't even begin to ask what the heck just happened. How in the world did the two of them end up in the river? Glancing around he noticed he didn't see the others and could only assume they were still back there. This made him frown…this couldn't be good, for many reasons. "Who the hell…was that?" he asked still spitting out water and trying to see though wet bangs.

"I don't know," Heero said sitting beside him and looking at him. "But the others might still be in danger."

_Well...damn._

"Well we should go save them," Duo said before he blushed, eyes catching the sight of Heero's wet shirt clinging to his nice semi muscular chest. He stood up figuring that might help him not to be so close so he wouldn't end up gaping like an idiot. "Besides, I owe that guy for throwing me in the lake! He got my hair wet! That's not cool!"

"The others probably took care of him by now," Heero replied also standing, drawing Duo's eyes right back to that wet shirt. Was it his imagination, or was he actually able to see the color of Heero's skin through that shirt?

…_Of course I'd see his nipples too…damn it!_

"Besides," Heero continued, bringing Duo's attention back to situation. Good thing he was looking away or he would have noticed Duo ogling him.

_He's a prick…but at least he's a hot prick._

"The current took us pretty far away," Heero continued, finally looking over at him again. "Our best option is to keep going."

"But…" Duo frowned. "We can't just leave them there! What about Q? And Tro? And Wu and…." His eyes saddened slightly. "And Solo? What about Shinigami? What if he-"

"I'll keep you safe," Heero said softly as he turned his back, looking over his shoulder at Duo, determined even though a moment of shyness seemed to follow the look. "I…I'll be the one to protect you…if you'll let me."

"Ah…" Duo blinked staring at Heero, confused but no doubt blushing. His heart felt like it was pounding twenty times faster just from those words. The look itself gave it the extra fifty. "Heero?"

"Let's get moving," Heero said quickly, starting to walk not giving Duo a chance to continue. "The people at that place might know a way to stop Shinigami."

"Oh uh…y-yeah," Duo said following him as he rubbed a finger against his cheek lost in a daze. Had Heero just said…no had Heero just gave him a shy look?! Heero…shy? It just didn't go together! And yet….

_Damn it, why did he have to be hot?!

* * *

_

Trowa stood in front of Quatre, panting slightly as he tried to push Mortimer back for the third time, having jumped to save Quatre three times in a row now. "He's strong," he said struggling.

"I know," Quatre panted out standing behind Trowa looking for an opening. "Mortimer is our strongest…soldier. He…joined us…just a few months ago."

Jumping back, Trowa watched as Wufei ran up taking over where he left off trying to bring his own blows in as he swung his sword at him. "He's too fast…how will we beat him?"

"We might have to escape for now." Quatre frowned at the idea. He didn't want to run away, not while knowing this man was on the loose. But at the moment, they were running out of options. They were still tired from the long journey and the dragon. There was no way they could take this abuse from this man who was already very skilled and far more rested than they were. He winced slightly as Wufei made a sloppy mistake just barely missing the sword that grazed his side. Wufei had to be tired to let that happen…but then who wouldn't be tired after fighting a dragon?

"Escape how?" Trowa asked reminding Quatre that he hadn't told him anything else yet.

"I'll distract them," Quatre said ignoring the look Trowa gave him. "You guys run and jump in the river. Duo and Heero are still alive so I think the river's current might have taken them further down the river."

"But-"

Quatre shook his head to quiet Trowa quickly, deciding he better show him the logic in his plan. "He wants me, right? So if I say I'll give myself up, you three can escape." His eyes landed on Solo as he glanced over at the elf still sitting against the tree and watching Mortimer with fearful eyes.

"Alright…." Sighing, Trowa reached up resting a hand on Quatre's. "I'll tell Wufei then."

"Alright…" The young prince couldn't help frowning a bit at that, wishing that Trowa hadn't agreed so easily. Honestly, he believed he would give his life for the man if he had too…even if Trowa didn't like him in return. But it didn't stop the pain that Trowa went along with his plan so willingly.

_No. Focus, Quatre._

"Take care," he said softly looking at Trowa.

"Yeah, you too," Trowa said in return, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before running over to Wufei.

Sighing, Quatre turned his attention to Mortimer. "Here goes nothing," he said to himself before he started running towards Mortimer holding up his hands. "Wait, stop! I give up! I'll turn myself in!"

"Playing distraction for your little friends, huh?" Mortimer said sounding a little too happy. "I'm not too worried," he said glancing over to see Trowa and the others by the lake, the two soldiers helping to support Solo's slump body. "It's a little late to be surrendering now." He pointed his sword right at Quatre, letting the point hit against his neck. "Since you're going to die anyway. I can always get the others later."

"Quatre!"

Quatre didn't move, feeling the tip of the sword on his neck, almost penetrating his skin. He was scared, any normal person would be scared. But he wasn't about to let this man get away with seeing his fear. Instead, he settled for glaring at the man.

"I would ask if you have any last words," Mortimer said, "but I just don't feel the need."

"Quatre!" Trowa quickly pushed Solo to Wufei as he started to run towards them.

"Trowa, be careful!" Wufei called after him. After that, Quatre didn't see anything as he closed his eyes feeling pressure being put on the sword.

"Ugh!" His eyes shot open at the sound of pain, at first fear showing as he thought Trowa had gotten hurt. But his eyes widened as he backed away slightly, seeing a black blur attached to Mortimer's arm.

"What is that?"

"I don't know," Trowa said stopping by him and grabbing his hand tugging on it. "But let's not wait around to find out."

"R-Right," Quatre replied blushing slightly as he followed him. The others jumped into the river, Trowa following right behind them. Quatre started to jump too but paused looking back towards the man. The black blur jumped down and ran away a few feet. It stopped, looking back at Quatre, yellow eyes glowing before it dashed off again leaving Quatre staring in shock.

"A panther?"

"AGH! Stupid beast!" Angered by the interruption as well as the bleeding to his arm, Mortimer turned quickly casting a glare on Quatre. Gasping, the young prince didn't hesitate to turn and jump into the lake, being taken over by the currents quickly, hoping he could find the others. Hopefully, he wouldn't drown instead.

* * *

_"You should have known better that you can't keep me away."_

Duo frowned, recognizing Shinigami's voice in his head, but he was determined to ignore it. He wasn't ready to deal with the god of death just yet, not to mention that he already had a lot on his mind to begin with. Maybe if he ignored him, the death god would just go away or something. Or he could wish it anyway.

_"You should listen to me when I'm talking to you."_

"…"

_"Maybe I should teach you a lesson in front of your boy toy there."_

Well that definitely did the trick as Duo stopped walking, his hands clenched at his side. He remembered the last time he'd gotten 'punished' by Shinigami. It didn't go all that well, especially the painful feeling of nails digging into his skin. That was going to leave some major scars later.

"You ok?"

"Huh?" Duo blinked looking up and seeing Heero looking back tat him before he quickly smiled at him, even if it was fake. "Uh…y-yeah! Just fine!"

"You're not fine," Heero said easily, frowning as he folded his arms staring at him. "Is Shinigami bothering you again?" Duo started to say yes, but nothing could come out of his mouth before he looked down shaking his head. He never was big on lying…so why start now? Besides, Sister Helen would never forgive him if he did. "Just be strong…." Heero said causing Duo to look up at him in shock, a red blush on his cheeks. The look was enough to make Heero look away and blush himself. "Hold out for me. We'll be there soon."

"I'll try," Duo said softly.

"Don't try…do it." The commander of their little group turned around starting to walk away. "I don't plan on losing you to some stupid god of death." Duo blinked. Did he just hear that right? It sounded almost like Heero was…worried…. But then again, it didn't mean anything, right? Heero must have said that because, if Duo died, the whole world would have to deal with Shinigami.

"Heero…"

Heero paused, and looked back at him frowning still. "…Sorry." A sound of bushes rustling drew their attention as they both turned at the same time, weapons quickly coming out. But at the sight of the dark beast that came out of the bushes, Duo felt his eyes widen before he dropped the weapon moving quickly towards the black panther.

"Scythe!"

"Scythe?" Heero blinked but didn't let go of his weapon, not daring to trust the big beast. It wasn't helping any that Duo was going towards it, and without his weapon even. "Duo, be careful."

"Don't worry, it's alright," Duo said looking back at him with a grin before he pointed to his ears. "Elf, remember?" Sighing, the braided elf stopped in front of Scythe then kneeled down being at eye level with him and smiling happily. "Where have you been, old buddy?"

_"Busy. I'm here now."_ The large panther used a foot as he scratched an itch at his side.

"Yeah, I missed you buddy," Duo said hugging the big cat before rubbing behind his ears. "How are Hilde and the others?"

_"Fine for now,"_ the panther said, purring softly as he leaned up into Duo's touch. _"They're camped out in the forest on that Treize guy's land. I don't think the king's as kind as we thought. The guards tried to arrest the people."_

"Seriously?!" Duo yelped as he continued rubbing behind the panther's ears.

_"I helped them escape."_ Scythe opened his eyes a bit staring up at him_. "How are you doing with Shinigami?"_

"Well…."

"…Is that panther talking to you?" Duo blinked and glanced over at Heero, having forgotten he was even there for a moment. Yeah, how could he forget something like that when Heero was almost half-naked there with him, well half-naked if you considered the see through shirt.

_Damn, that's right. Only I can hear him._

_"Well…not just you, little pawn."_

_Hm?_

"Heero, this is Scythe," Duo said gesturing to the black panther standing in front of them. "Scythe, Heero."

_"Pleasure."_ Scythe gave a little cat like bow, his head nodding up and down for a moment.

"He says pleasure."

Heero blinked at that, making Duo want to laugh a bit. Well, what did he expect from the handsome soldier? Heck, no normal person would know what to say to a polite panther. And Scythe could be very polite and very proper when he wanted to. "Tell him, the same."

"Oh he heard you," Duo replied giving the panther one more pat on the head. "Scythe's been with me ever since I thought Solo died. He left to help Hilde and Howard get out of Relena's place safely, but now he's back." A fond smile lifted to Duo's lips as he thought about all the times and places that he and the panther had traveled together. "He's been a good friend to me."

"…Are you sure?"

"Trust me on this. He's our friend."

Heero nodded his head before looking at Duo, staring into the braided boy's indigo eyes as he said the words, "…I trust you."

A blush lifted Duo's cheeks, his eyes wide as he stared by, trying to say something but not finding the words. Did Heero just say he trusted him? After all they'd been through, after he almost killed him…Heero trusted him? Why? Why would he trust him?

Luckily, Scythe saved him the embarrassment of saying something stupid_. "Your friends should be on the way soon."_

"Seriously?!" Duo yelled out as a grin lifted to his lips. "Sweet, things are looking up!"

"What did he say?"

Duo looked over at him and blushed trying not to look at the wet shirt. "He said the others are coming! Let's wait for them here." Heero seemed to hesitate for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement. The more of them there were together, the better their chances if they had to fight. The two of them found a place to sit down, Duo nestled up beside him, shivering from the wet shirt. He felt Heero tense up as he slid closer then hesitantly rested his head on Heero's shoulder, the small bit of the other's body heat already warming him up.

"Duo…" Heero said softly.

"You're warm…" was all Duo said in reply as he closed his eyes, finding himself not wanting to pull away.

"Yeah, we are still soaked." Heero admitted, as if just notice their physical state.

"I can make a quick fire. Just a sec…." Closing his eyes, Duo pointed a finger out in front of them before a small red flame burst to life, controlled by the flows of magic yet giving off the necessary heat and warmth. "There."

"This should help," Heero said, only holding his hands towards the fire, not trying to remove Duo from him, something that surprised the elf.

"Yep."

Heero didn't seem like the…touchy feely type guy…and yet here he was letting Duo lean against him. Heck, if it weren't for the circumstances, Duo would have thought he was on a date or something. Not that Heero seemed like the dating type.

_"I'll rest up for a bit and give you two a moment alone,"_ Scythe said yawning and stretching before he turned jumping up into the trees to lounge on one of the branches. _"Don't worry about Shinigami, if he tries anything, I'll stop him."_

…_What?_

"Thanks," Duo said frowning, trying to figure out what Scythe meant by that.

"Go ahead and sleep," Heero said suddenly, breaking his concentration. "I'll keep watch."

"I'm not-"

"You've been through a lot." Heero reached down brushing Duo's bangs out of his face. "Just get some rest and we'll worry about details later."

"…Alright, fine." He sighed relenting to the commander as he felt his eyes closing tiredly. Maybe it was from the strain of being forced down the river, but now that he was sitting like this, he was pretty tired. Not to mention very comfortable. "Just…wake me if something happens…k?" The words came out slurred as he felt himself drifting off to sleep.

TBC….

That's all for now. Mm this chapter coulda been better, but yeah. Soooo sleepy now, hehe.


	21. Spellcaster 21

Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:

"Duo…"

"Nnnn…." He thought he heard a voice calling to him in his sleep, but the warmth he was leaning against made it so he didn't want to wake up. Whatever he was leaning on, it was soft and had a interestingly pleasant smell to it that put a smile on Duo's face.

"Duo, wake up," Scythe said tugging hard on his pants leg. "We need to move."

"Mm…five more minutes," the elf replied using his foot to push the black panther away.

"If you don't get up, we might get killed," the panther said in his head before starting to tug on him again. "And you know as well as I that we can't allow that to happen."

His eyes shot open at that as Duo looked down at the large black panther at his feet. What had been going on? Oh that's right, he and Heero ended up falling into the river. Then he had made a fire and... Duo blinked glancing to his side as he found himself face to face with the gruff soldier. He had to admit, the other looked really peaceful when he was sleeping.

_And beautiful._

Blushing, Duo shook his head returning his attention to the panther that was staring up at him with a curious look in his big cat eyes. "We have a bit of a problem," Scythe said standing to his feet and walking over to a nearby tree before he jumped up easily to a branch up high. "Come take a look."

_A problem? What sort of problem could be worse than what we're dealing with now?!_

Carefully lying Heero down on the ground, Duo got up walking over to the tree and easily climbing up it with his nimble elfin skills. Scythe glanced over at him before he turned his head lifting his nose off in the direction he wanted Duo to look. And as soon as Duo did that, he felt his eyes widen and his body tremble to the point he had to reach out and hold onto the tree to keep from falling.

_Holy hell…what is this?!_

It looked like it was never-ending; the row upon row of monsters marching their way, not caring about what may be blocking them. It wasn't hard for Duo to see them all either, even with his elfin eyes. The monsters were close already, though how they got that close without Scythe's nose or Duo's elf ears picking up a hint was beyond his knowledge. It looked like it was an army of the beast, all of them marching their way towards their location looking for too organized to be a coincidence. There had to be at least over a five hundred of them.

_We've gotta move._

"I believe they sense Shinigami's power," Scythe said as he stood beside him, his black hair blowing in the wind as he took his human form, his black wings flickering behind him. It never ceased to amaze Duo just how powerful the man was. Or was he a man? What was Scythe? He was no normal panther and yet he didn't appear to be human either. Occasionally, it popped into Duo's mind to question how it was that Scythe had appeared right when Duo had first summoned Shinigami. Then from the recent comments that had come from him…what was Scythe's relationship with Shinigami? And why was it that right now, Shinigami wasn't saying anything? He would have assumed that the God of Death would be happy to taunt him about the current issue.

"There's no way to hide it now that he's no longer attached to the cross." Duo felt a chill go down his spine at the words. Did he just say what he thought he'd said? Was it true? Shinigami wasn't in the cross anymore? "I-It thought if I used it one more time then-"

"He's already inside you," Shinigami said looking deep into Duo's eyes as if he was seeing more than even the elf with his eyes could see. Gently, he reached around Duo, the other standing in shock and staring at Scythe as the panther gone human removed the cross holding it carelessly in his hand.

"Scythe, be careful," Duo warned watching him warily. "That…if you drop that while I'm still…I could die."

"You won't die," was the only words Duo heard before Scythe tipped his hand down letting the cross slip free. It was almost like it was in slow motion as Duo tried to catch it with his quick elfin hands only to feel Scythe smacking the hand just out of reach. The cross fell onward, Duo expecting to feel a tug on his soul pulling him away from his body…but nothing happened. The cross just landed on the ground staring up at him meaninglessly as if taunting him for believing a lie.

_So…I'm not attached to it?_

But Shinigami himself had told him that he had one more chance to change. So had that all been a lie? Had Shinigami said that knowing Duo would have to call on him again? None of this made any sense to him. And yet it all did. Shinigami wanted out…and it didn't matter how it was done. Was that how Duo hadn't been able to control his body? If that was the case, why was he still conscious? For how long had Shinigami been inside his body without him knowing?

"We'll worry about that later," Scythe said obviously reading his thoughts, his body having already changed back into the small black panther from earlier. "For the time being, let's worry more about escaping and less on consequences. As long as I'm here, I won't let Shinigami take over."

Duo glanced at him, noticing the hard resolve in Scythe's eyes and smiled actually feeling safe being around the black panther, safer than usual anyway. "Alright." It didn't answer his question on the how but it did make him feel secured that all was going to be ok.

"Let's go!" Scythe yelled out in his mind as he moved jumping from the tree and rushing over head butting Heero in the side to wake him. Duo looked back towards the trees seeing just how much closer the monsters where before hopping down and rushing over to the alarmed Heero who was just starting to stand up, his sword in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked quickly, not even giving a 'hey, how are you?'

"We gotta go," Duo said frowning as he used his foot to quickly kick dirt over the fire. "We've got a big problem heading our way."

"The problem?" Heero asked, not evening giving out a full sentence. He was on the alert though, his eyes flicking this way and that even though he appeared to be giving Duo his full attention.

"Monsters."

"Monsters?" Heero asked actually looking surprised. If it weren't for the situation, Duo would have called it cute. No wait…actually it was cute. And he wasn't afraid to admit it.

"It's like an army," Duo said gesturing with his head in the direction of where they were coming from. "At least over five hundred if I estimated correctly."

"And they're heading this way?" At Duo's nod, Heero seemed to frown even more, going quiet in what Duo assumed to be his brain processing everything together to spit out a solution. "Why? Do they know where we are?"

"I think so," Duo said sighing and rubbing his head. "They can sense Shinigami." At the confused look Heero gave him, he couldn't help shaking his head and getting a little louder. "Look, I'll tell you later. Right now…let's get out of this place."

"Then we won't be able to go to that place then," Heero said softly, like he was talking to himself. "Not if they can sense you," he said louder.

"Then you go on ahead. I'll stay and distract-"

"I'm not taking that chance."

"Why?" Duo started glaring at him, wondering why he was being stubborn. If the monsters were after him, he could at the very least distract them until Heero got away. Why couldn't he see that? "You don't trust me, do you?" He said suddenly, his glare softening into something more like a pout. "Because me dying means the end of the world, right?"

"It's not about that," Heero said frowning as he stared up at him. "I'm doing it because I want to protect you…."

Duo blinked staring at him, wondering once again what was going through Heero's head. This wasn't the first time Heero had said something like that, but it never took long afterwards for Heero to change his mood. "Why would-"

"We have to go," Scythe said tugging on Duo's pants. "It's getting dangerous. If they get too close, they might start going crazy from the smell of Shinigami being so close."

"At least then my body will be so torn to pieces that even Shinigami couldn't use it," Duo mumbled, shivering at his own words as he thought about those monsters trying to eat him alive.

"That won't happen," Heero said as he reached down grabbing Duo's hand making the braided one's cheeks redden and his heart be faster. What was this now? "I'm going to take care of you," Heero said even though his eyes were glaring like he didn't want to say this. "I'll protect you, Duo Maxwell."

Duo stared at him blankly then slowly shook his head, not sure what to say. He didn't really get a chance to say anything though as Heero pulled on him, the two of them following after the black panther to their escape. They needed to get as far away as possible. Because if they didn't…those monsters would tear them to shreds.

_I'll protect you too…Heero. Or at least I'll try anyway...even if you are a jerk sometimes._

* * *

Quatre coughed spitting out water as he climbed onto shore. He laid down taking a moment to rest as he stared up at the sky looking at the semi dark cloud. It was getting late…how long had he been in that water floating along? That man…was it possible he was still alive? And what about that panther? He'd felt something from the black creature, but right now he couldn't even explain what that was.

Standing to his feet, Quatre glanced around looking for anyone from their little group to be there with him. He was worried, obviously. What if the others had drowned? He didn't want to think about it that way though. They were alive, they had to be! His eyes lit up brightly when he saw Trowa lying on the shore on the other side of the river, passed out by the looks of it. "Trowa!"

He didn't get a response from calling out the name and frowned looking around for a way across. With the tides going up now, there was no way he'd be able to get across without being sucked down into the river. And being as tired as he was, he knew he'd never survive it this trip. It was just his luck that he found a log that'd been broken apparently some time back making a convenient bridge leading to the other side.

Quatre walked over to it, standing on it an noticing instantly that it wasn't the most secure log. But if it could get him across to his friend then...

_I'm going for it._

He moved quickly but carefully, holding his arms out at his sides to help him keep his balance. He'd learned a little bit of that from Trowa who he found out used to work for a traveling circus. He'd learned a lot of little things about the taller male. He'd also learned that…he might been in love with him.

Almost halfway to the other side, he felt the log starting to weaken on him, threatening to break as he froze where he was. He had a chose…he could keep going and hope he made it, or he could turn around and head back, which was the side he was closest to. Sighing and taking a deep breath, he got himself ready, not giving it a second thought as he rushed running hearing the cracking of the wood in his ear. Just as the wood was starting to give underneath him, he pushed forward jumping as high as he could coming to roll on the other side just as the log crumbled and broke in half falling into the water.

He laid there for a moment, not believing he'd just survived that but feeling a deep thrill of excitement. No wonder Trowa seemed to like doing the things he talked about. If only he'd been able to see! He'd love to be able to see Trowa performing at the circus.

_Trowa…that's right…._

Quatre got up, moving over to where Trowa was and dropping beside him flipping him onto his back. "Trowa…" He started to shake him, getting scared when he got no response but a pale looking face. "Trowa, wake up."

He leaned down resting his ear against Trowa's chest before he put his mouth over the auburn haired man's lips breathing into him. "Trowa…" He started pumping his chest trying to get air inside, not liking how icy cold his skin felt. Why was he so cold? How long had he been here? It felt like forever after two minutes of breathing into him, his emotions growing more desperate as he pumped him harder, tears starting to run down his cheeks. "Come on, Trowa, breath!" He couldn't even feeling his emotions. Was he…could he be….

_No!_

"Trowa!" Emotions getting away from him, Quatre took his hands together pounding them hard onto Trowa's chest. "TROWA!"

The boy beneath him sputtered, water shooting out of his mouth as he coughed rolling to his side and spitting out the water that he coughed up.

"Trowa!" Quatre stared down at him happily, tears of joy shining in his eyes as he reached down grabbing hold of Trowa's hand holding it tightly. "Thank god you're ok!"

"A...Angel?" Trowa said staring up at him, his eyes not fully focused on him yet as he tried to get his trembling body under control.

_Angel?_

Quatre shook his head, confused by the word but smiled as he reached down brushing Trowa's bang out of his eyes. "You had me worried."

"Sorry," Trowa said hoarsely, smiling as he lifted a hand resting it on Quatre's cheek. "Angel…."

Quatre felt his cheeks heating up as he rested his hand over Trowa's noticing that he said that word again. Was it possible that…that Trowa was calling him his angel? "Trowa…" he said softly.

"Where are the others?" Trowa asked though he didn't lift his head just yet.

"I don't know," Quatre admitted, glancing around but still holding onto the hand on his cheek. "I didn't see anyone else. Maybe they got pulled further down."

"Or drowned," Trowa said stating the fact that Quatre tried to avoid. Why did things have to end like that? He knew it was a strong possibility, especially in Solo's case considering he didn't seem to be functioning as well after what happened with that man.

"I hope not," Quatre said sadly blinking when he noticed Trowa staring at him. He blushed staring back at him taking note of his beautiful emerald eyes. "We should get going."

"Yeah…" Trowa said not breaking the stare for a moment. His lips seemed to call to Quatre, the young blond prince leaning down finding the eyes coming closer to him. He exhaled, lips hovering over Trowa's with only a moment's hesitation before he leaned down kissing him on the lips. Almost instantly there was a response from the boy beneath him as he was kissed back in return. And maybe if Trowa hadn't been feeling like he'd come close to death, Quatre would have let the kiss stretch on. But instead he broke it, rather reluctantly, and sighed softly resting his forehead against Trowa's as he smiled happily staring down at him. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"If it's as long as I have then trust me," Trowa said grinning now. "I know." His grin died down to a frown. "But…I'm not part of a high class…and what about-"

"I don't care about any of that," Quatre said still beaming like a kid with a shiny new coin. "Nothing's going to change the way I feel."

"And how do you feel?" Trowa asked, his eyes glazed over though his hand started to slip from Quatre's cheek.

Quatre quickly caught the hand in his own as he shook his head staring down at him and blushing. "That I might love you." The words came out softly compared to the rushing sound of the river's current, but Trowa obviously caught it, his cheeks reddening as he stared up at him. Feeling just a tad bit embarrassed, Quatre stood up to his feet. "Now let's get going."

He turned to walk away, being stopped as he felt a hand reaching out and grabbing him. He felt himself being pulled down, blushing as chilled arms encircled his waist and hot lips were pressed against him, a kiss being stolen from him.

"I think I might love you too," said the lips against his before he found himself responding to the kiss even more.

* * *

Wufei was soaked, but he didn't have time for rest as he walked, Solo sitting on his back though unresponsive to anything at all. He'd tried his best to snap the elf out of it, even slapping him on the face a couple of times. But still nothing worked for him. Whatever had happened back there, the guy has frozen up like a stiff board.

Grunting, Wufei shifted Solo on his back, frustrated he'd lost his hair band to the river. It'd normally been good for keeping his hair secured, which was a very big help when it came to fighting. He didn't need the hair distracting him. How Duo could manage to fight with that long braid of his, Wufei couldn't imagine. He'd been lucky enough to see Solo floating in the river and grab him before the currents carried him away. But he hadn't been lucky enough to see Quatre or Trowa. Something told him the two of them were ok though…and probably together knowing them. The only other two he couldn't account for where Duo and Heero. They'd fallen in to the river much sooner than the rest of them, so there was no telling where they were right now.

"Heh." It felt a little unnatural to have Solo being so silent, blue eyes staring at whatever was in front of him. He was alive at the least, still breathing with no problem, but other than that he didn't respond to anything Wufei did or said.

"We need some place to hide out at for a while so we can dry up," Wufei said, frowning as he talked. He didn't know why he felt some need to talk to Solo even if the other wouldn't respond. Maybe he was hoping that something was getting through to him. "We'll have to look around for the others later. Right now, the only thing we can do is worry about ourselves." He had no doubt the others were alive. He had to admit, they were strong. They could survive anything.

_Besides…if Duo was dead…the whole world would know it._

The whole issue was where to go? Well if they headed in the direction they'd been going in the first place, he was sure he'd meet up with them…or someone anyway. Hearing thunder, Wufei looked up at the dark clouds, grunting when he felt a drop of water drop land on his cheek. "Great…a storm; just what we need right now." He kept walking, frowning and moving as quickly as he could as the rain started to pour down, soaking his already wet body through once again.

"You really need to wake up soon. We could move better if you did." Still no response. Sighing, Wufei kept moving, at one point starting to run as the lightning started to get bad crackling over head. He was doing his best to be careful not to slip and fall in the mud. It would be really easy to do too considering how wet the ground was now. And honestly, he couldn't even see ahead of him anymore. It was like the rain had suddenly become a tall wall of-

He slipped falling in the mud, Solo rolling free to land on his back, eyes staring at him openly but non-responsively, his hand extended outwards in Wufei's direction. He almost looked like a dead person that Wufei actually had to pause for a moment before getting up. It was like he was a…lifeless doll. A doll who's strings had to be manipulated.

"This isn't the time to be lost in your own world," Wufei said standing to his feet and walking over to him starting to haul him back up again. "Your magic would be really useful right now." Solo only stared back at him in return.

Grunting, Wufei put his back to Solo and picked him up again positioning him on his back until he was comfortable. "You're a worse pain than Duo is, you know that?" He started walking again, being beat down by the strong rains that didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. He was surprised to be able to feel Solo's heart beating against his back, but was at least reassured that the guy was alive. Still…what happened to him in the past to make Duo think he was dead?

Wufei looked up ahead seeing a cave up and nodded his head in approval. "Good. Perfect timing." He ran on inside, disregarding whether there were any bears inside or not. If so, he wasn't against having to kill a bear for shelter. Besides, he could use the bear meat for food and the fur for warmth. "It's pretty quiet in here, isn't it?"

"…." Frowning, Wufei sat Solo down against the cave wall. It wasn't a big cave, but it would serve its purpose for tonight. And the best part was that it was empty and from the looks of it didn't belong to any animals that they didn't want to run into.

"Well fire's out. With all that rain, there's no way we could start a fire with all that wet wood." He glanced over at Solo, not getting a word out of him, and turned walking over and stopping to sit beside him. Solo was just staring blankly at a space in front of him, water dripping off his bangs and his body trembling from the cold.

Being a soldier, Wufei was more conditioned for this kind of weather. But Solo wasn't a soldier or any type of warrior…he was an elf, a creature made more for magic things that would keep him out of danger. The best solution for him in this type of situation would have to be sharing body heat…but Wufei wasn't really into that kind of thing. He was a loner for a reason.

Standing, Wufei started looking around the cave, feeling lucky when he found traces of dried up leaves that had blown into the cave from other times and old grass that grew in from the cracks in the cave. He put it in a pile in front of where Solo was and frowned looking around for a branch or at least something that would be useful to starting a firing. Of course it was useless if all he could find were wet branches. It didn't take him long to find a branch as he pulled the knife free at his side and started cutting at it working his way to the dry spots at the middle, hoping it wasn't soaked all the way through.

His eyes twitched as he only found the two branches made twigs to be fully wet due to the hardness of the rain. In frustration, he threw the two sticks down glaring at them before he turned his eyes towards Solo seeing the body still trembling and the eyes still staring blankly.

"At least wake up and be of some use. We could use a fire." Again he didn't get a word out of the elf and he sighed sliding closer to him and started to undo the buttons on the shirt. There was nothing else he could do but share his body warmth. Something happened though; the body beneath shifting as he looked up to find very focused eyes on him, almost as if the whole ordeal had never happened.

"Where's Duo?" Solo said hoarsely sounding like he'd been asleep for a while. In a way, that was kind of true. Wufei shouldn't have been surprised to find the first word out of Solo's mouth to be Duo, but then again…after all they'd been through, you'd think the guy would be a little more worried about where they were than some elf that was housing a death god intent on the destruction of the world.

"No clue," Wufei finally said noticing the other was waiting for a reply. "He fell into the river with Heero. The others aren't here either." He frowned then, sitting back and staring at the other as if trying to read something about him. "You blanked out."

Solo just nodded his head, shivering and staring down at the pile of trash Wufei has gathered for them to use. In fact, Wufei was starting to get a little cold himself now that he was sitting still long enough. They needed to get dry before they caught pneumonia or something worse. "You should make us a fire."

Solo nodded and hovered over the leaves, not even hesitating before he casted a fire on them. He was a little faster than Duo was when it came to using magic. It made Wufei wonder if maybe the guy had been practicing it while he was gone. So then what had Duo been doing? Oh right…hiding from the world the fact that he was an elf. He probably didn't have nearly as much time to try it, much less worrying about Shinigami being housed inside of him.

The leaves burst to life as the fire started to crackle giving off the much needed heat as Wufei found himself sliding closer to it. He'd have expected the elf to be a little more…jolly or something, but the guy was still somewhat subdued, almost like he was going into a relapse or something. He was staring into the fire, his eyes glazing over as he lost himself to his own thoughts, probably wondering about Duo and how he was doing.

"So how'd you meet Duo anyway?" Wufei asked, feeling like he needed to break this uncomfortable silence somehow. Besides that, he needed to get Solo's mind back on the problem at hand. They were lost and they needed to find the others as soon as possible. Not to mention that wacko of a man wandering around trying to find and kill all of them.

"I'm not sure if he said it or not…but I'm actually a prince." Solo frowned slightly, though he didn't look up at Wufei as he kept to himself mostly. Maybe Wufei should have been surprised Solo was a prince, but he found he wasn't. After all, finding out that Duo was an elf being controlled by a god of death and seeing a real live dragon seemed to make anything that was impossible, possible now.

"Duo was an orphan even back then. And just like in the human world, orphans are looked down upon and ignored." Solo sighed softly reaching up and brushing his wet bangs out of his eyes. "I was just like them back then." He frowned then thinking about it. "But when I saw his eyes…I was shocked. Despite how everyone had treated him, he still had a defiant, daring look to his eyes. And well the next day when I went out to look for him, I…"

* * *

(Flashback)

Solo panted softly, looking down at the smaller boy that was younger than him by at least two or three years. He didn't look scared but he did look defiantly at him, surprised as he saw the taller male stoop down in front of him so they were at the same level and holding out a small sandwich to him. "Here," Solo said softly the other just staring up at him in surprise. "You are hungry, right? So go ahead and eat."

Duo looked at him suspiciously before he reached out slowly taking the sandwich from him. He bent his head down sniffing at the sandwich like a wild animal and took a cautious bite. Instantly his eyes shot wide open in shock before he started to devour the sandwich, looking like a child that hadn't eaten in who knew how long.

Chuckling, Solo reached down gently ruffling the kid's hair, the smaller boy with his dirty face shying away from the touch before realizing that the taller one didn't mean any harm by it. "Whoa easy," he said patting on Duo's back when the other ate too fast and started to choke on the sandwich. "Don't eat so fast, I'm not going to snatch it back."

Duo blinked up at him and gave a slight nod taking a slightly slower bite, though not that slowly. "So what's your name anyway?"

"?" Duo looked up at him as he finished off the sandwich, licking his fingers clean and glancing around before he finally looked up at Solo again. "I don't have a name."

"Really?" Solo asked before smiling at him. "Well…my name's Solo. So how about we call you Duo?" He smiled at that watching the smaller one's face light up in a smile at having a name. "So that way, we'll have to stay together! Solo and Duo."

Duo nodded his head; a light red on his cheek at the idea before he looked down shifting his dirty bare feet. "Can I have another one?"

(End Flashback)

* * *

"I visited him every day bringing him food and water. I'd even snuck him into my room a few times so we could play." He smiled thinking back on the fond memories. "We were young then…and because my father didn't approve of him because of his upbringing, we had to sneak in a lot. But we'd done it for years to the point it became natural for us."

Wufei nodded his head listening to him, glad to see he was opening up a bit though it seemed he'd know Duo a long time. No wonder the two of them talked so much.

"And later one day, my pops got a visit from a human. The human was angry demanding that my father give him the cross. But dad just told him to leave and never come back. And then…"

* * *

(Flashback)

Solo moved quietly down the palace hallway, holding the cross by the chain as he had Duo at his side. He'd been told early on about the cross, about the cursed power it held and how he was never to use it, or to even touch it if it could be avoid. But he'd also been told how important it was and that it was to be protected at all cost.

Elves littered the floors of the hallway, opened eyes staring up at the sky obviously having suffered their last breaths before dying. The women had obviously been raped before killed, the evidence in the blood stains lining their dresses. Even the children hadn't been spared. The whole hallway, the whole palace was deadly quiet, the only sounds being the blowing of the wind outside and the occasional scream from somewhere outside.

"Shh…just stay close," he whispered trying to help keep Duo calm. He'd tried to keep Duo from looking by hiding the other's face against his chest, but it didn't do any good, the young elf glancing to the side and staring at the onslaught. Solo just kept moving, trying to ignore the two figures up ahead of his parents as they stared at him with dead eyes. He tried to ignore the faces of the innocent children that would be forever sleeping.

Duo just reached over holding onto Solo tightly, wanting to get out of there. Solo did too; of course…he was hoping there were some people outside that were still alive.

He was getting closer to the exit when he stopped suddenly seeing the very man that had spoken to his father earlier that day coming inside and grinning holding a bloody sword in his hand. "Well well, I see the prince thought he could escape with his little servant."

Solo froze up pushing Duo behind him quickly and shoving the cross into his hand as he stared up at the man fearfully.

"If you be a good boy and tell me where the cross is, I might let you go," the man said laughing, apparently not about to do that.

Solo could feel Duo pressing up against him from behind, trembling with fear. But he could understand being afraid right now, afterall he was trembling just as much himself. This man standing right in front of him had probably had this planned from the start. He must have brought a group of people, set on killing the elves and stealing the cross.

"Never," Solo said glaring at the man. "Dad wouldn't forgive me for letting it fall into your hands." The man started towards him, Solo gasping and backing away from him quickly. However, Duo didn't know what was going on and got bumped into when Solo backed up, his balance being lost as he started to fall down, the chain of the cross flashing in the light from the candles on the walls.

"That's it," the man said in a whisper, his eyes going wide as he started at Duo. "Shinigami."

"Duo, run!"

Duo didn't move, frozen with fear. Solo moved trying to defend Duo but the man just shoved him down to the ground and kept moving snatching Duo up by the shirt and holding him up. "Give me the cross, boy."

Duo's eyes went wide with fear as he shook his head quickly swallowing and looking like he was ready to cry.

"Give me the cross before I chop your hands off and take it myself." Duo just clenched his eyes shut shaking his head roughly again, a small whimper escaping his lips.

"Duo!" Solo slammed himself into the man's legs as he tried to give Duo the chance to escape. "Duo, run!"

Duo was dropped down and started to get up before he saw the big hand surrounding Solo's neck starting to squeeze him. "Solo!"

"Gah…Du…o…"

"SOLO!"

"The cross or he dies," the man said squeezing him harder. Duo swallowed and closed his hand starting to hold it out to him.

"Duo…r….run…." Solo felt like he could black out at any moment, the big hand around his neck tightening. Any more pressure and he was sure his neck would break. He didn't even want to know what would happen to Duo. If only he'd just run…get away while he still could. Solo glanced at Duo trying to tell the other with his eyes but he saw something else. There was a change over Duo. He wasn't trembling anymore; in fact…he appeared to be smirking. Violet eyes stared at him looking a lot darker than before…a lot more deadly. He didn't look like the little kid that liked to hang on Solo all the time…no something was different.

Solo briefly remembered his father talking about the cross, talking about the spirit inside. He'd said never to use the power no matter what…but how did Duo…tap into that power. It wasn't exactly something just anyone could use. Someone had to have a good deal of magic to use it. That was one of the reasons Solo gave it to Duo…he never knew the other even had magic since not all elves weren't born with it despite the myths the humans made up. And even then, it was rare to find an elf with an exceptional amount of magic.

"That's it," the man said, so focused on the cross that he hadn't noticed the change in Duo's eyes. "Nice and easy. Then I'll let your friend go." He was calm…too calm. The guy reached out touching the cross, not noticing when Duo moved his other hand and touched him. The man looked up in shock, the tightness around Solo's neck disappearing as the man let him go. The young elf coughed looking up quickly watching the light in the man's eyes disappear before he fell backwards hitting the ground hard and not moving.

"Duo…" Solo said staring at the man in shock, not daring to get any closer, knowing he was dead the way his eyes just stared up at the ceiling blankly. "What…happened?"

"He's dead," the voice coming out of Duo said. Solo glanced at the little boy, noticing the smirk on his lips and frowned watching him warily. "You're not Duo, are you? Who are you?"

"…Shinigami," the boy said reaching for Solo, though his hand seemed to hesitate. Solo couldn't seem to bring himself to move, staring into those blank eyes as the hand came closer and closer until it rested on his head.

(End Flashback)

* * *

"And that's all I remember," Solo said staring down into the fire, the trembling in his body finally going away.

"Sounds pretty intense," Wufei said frowning, lying by the fire. He found himself surprisingly comfortable despite the situation and definitely a lot dryer than before.

"Maybe I passed out," Solo said softly, though by the look in his eyes, he didn't seem to be so sure anymore. If what Solo had said about that man being the one they saw by the river. The guy was definitely alive, whereas Solo was saying he was dead. So exactly what happened to make a dead guy be alive again? If it were possible then…could Solo have also been revived in that same way? Not that Wufei believed any of that stuff but…lately…it was hard to tell what to believe.

"We need to find the others," Solo said obviously not wanting to think about this anymore. Wufei didn't blame him. He didn't want to think about it either, and it didn't directly effect him like it did Solo. "We need to find Duo."

"You mean everyone," Wufei said frowning and following after Solo as he was leaving the cave. It hadn't fully stopped raining but at least it had slowed down enough where they could at least walk and not run into trees and bushes.

"I could care less about the others," Solo grumbled under his breath. "I just want to see Duo. The others have never done anything for me…so why should I care about them?"

"Nevermind," Wufei said grunting and scratching his head. "Let's just go, ok?"

TBC….

Yay finally updated. It came out to 11 pages. After scrapping the chapters I was going to use. I rewrote it and this is what came out. Hope yas likes it! It's definitely way better than what would have happened. At least, I think it is, darn it.

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: Story up for three years and still going? Should I be proud or embarrassed it's taking me this long to finish it? Maybe, if I stopped starting new stories so much.

Author's comments: And probably the slowest update I've done. But anyway, it turned out to be a long chapter. And I have a general idea of where I'm going again, even though I scrapped the last two chapters for being too sappy and cheesy...well to me anyway. But I guess you'll never know. Ah hahaha...yeah...

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap"_ Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 21


	22. Spellcaster 22

Pairings: the obvious ones ::blinks::

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Comment: Or is this year four now...? Or...seven . X.X (counted)

Author's comment: I'm sorry! I...I got lazy...and like...and like took forever and stuff and...I seriously didn't' mean for this to take a year to come out. Um...don't know what else to say but...it's done?

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap"_ = Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ = mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 22

"This...isn't working," Heero said as he paused panting and looking over at Duo. Hell, he was used to strenuous work and even he was tired from the long march.

"Told ya...ya shoulda... let me...stay behind...and take care of...it." Duo panted out looking surprisingly just as tired at Heero did. In fact, the only one who wasn't tired out at all had to be the ever watchful black panther. Even now, it was still a bit of a surprised to see the intelligent beast easily conversing with Duo, despite that Heero couldn't hear a word of it. He remembered the same thing had happened between Duo and the dragon, though in that case it hadn't turned out so well. Were all elves really capable of communication with animals like this?

"Don't be stupid," Heero said looking at Duo once he'd caught his breath. "Even you couldn't handle that many."

"But if it's me they're after-" Heero didn't give him a chance to finish that comment as he took his hand smacking Duo in the back of the head. "Ow!" Duo yelled out and glared at Heero. "What was that for?"

"I told you that I wasn't going to let anything happen to you," Heero said glaring at him, getting a wide eyed look in return before looking back in the direction that the monsters were in. "If we find a way to draw them off even for a little while...that could be of help to us."

"Help us how?" Duo asked him, becoming curious as he slid closer.

Heero didn't look at him, though the feeling of warmth at his side told him enough that Duo was close by to him. And it wasn't just the sword's warmth that he was feeling either. "There's a place probably about a couple of miles from here that is capable of suppressing magic." He looked at Duo then. "If we go there, it might even be able to suppress Shinigami's powers." His eyes glazed over as he remembered that man back at Relena's castle. It'd been a long while since he'd thought about it, but now that he was so close... "It's a place I've been before." Heero frowned glancing down at the sword at his side mumbling the words. "I hope he's right about this."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, who's he?"

_...Crap._

Yeah...he'd forgotten how well Duo could hear. It probably didn't help that he'd never told the others about his encounter in Relena's castle. For all he knew, they were just heading straight for a trap, though he had no plans of letting anyone hurt his comrades wherever they may be. "Don't worry about it."

"What do you mean don't worry about it?"

"We really don't have time for this," Heero said frowning as he looked at him. He saw Duo's mouth open and gave a sigh of relief when Duo was distracted by Scythe, talking to the dark panther.

"Are you serious? ... no way...oh hell no! We can't...but...yeah I know but...I guess...ok ok."

"...What is he saying?" Heero asked, not getting a thing out of the words Duo had mumbled out and starting to feel a little impatient considering they didn't really have a lot of time to be chitchatting.

"He said that...he'll use the necklace to distract the monsters...since there's still a lot of Shinigami's magic in it."

"I thought you couldn't live without the cross," Heero said staring at him, reminding Duo that he hadn't heard the conversation earlier between him and Shinigami when he'd found out that Shinigami was inside of him and not inside the cross.

"I mean...he's not ...well...anymore..." he sighed at the look Heero gave him. "Look that's not the point right now. We need to decide on what to do."

Heero gave him a look, but just let it go by saying, "It sounds like a good plan to me." It'd definitely confuse the monsters and give them time to get away. "That's considering any plans better than standing here and waiting for death."

Heero heard Duo's sigh and glanced over only finding the other walking away a bit, probably trying to avoid answering the question from earlier. If Shinigami really wasn't in the cross and was inside of Duo, they were going to have a lot trouble in the future. "Fine...but let's at least wait until we're close to this place you were talking about. I'd rather take my chances on getting Shinigami under control than to end up killing everyone and everything."

"Alright," Heero said only giving it a second before completely going for it. "Ask your panther friend if he could hold out for a bit longer." Duo just looked at Scythe hearing the answer before Heero had even finished speaking.

"He's fine with it as long as we can keep our distance from the monsters."

Heero nodded his head glancing back towards where the monsters were last before turning his back looking off ahead at the deep stretch of forest ahead of them. "Then let's keep moving and trying to keep as much distance as we can between us."

"Righto, oh capeetain!" Duo said smirking as he saluted the back of Heero's head imagining the slight glare that probably appeared on the other's face before he started following him.

* * *

"This is getting us nowhere," Wufei scowled looking off ahead at trees, trees, and more trees. "We've been walking for hours. Not once have we seen any of the others and it's already starting to get dark."

"That's more reason for us to keep moving," Solo said walking beside him managing to keep up with even Wufei's pace despite probably not having any fighting abilities aside from the bit of magic he possessed. "They're probably somewhere waiting for us."

"Or they're probably getting chased by the wacko we saw earlier." At the mention of the guy, Solo tensed up slightly beside him, something Wufei quickly noticed. He remembered the story that Solo had told him while the two of them were stuck warming up to hide from the rain in a well placed cave. Admittedly that was enough reason to scar Solo for life. The very man they saw was the very man that had killed both of Solo's parents and the rest of the elves as far as Wufei knew leaving only Solo and Duo to be the last two elves alive. So to Wufei, it was no wonder Solo felt even a bit output by the guy.

The terrain around them was starting to get a bit steeper making it harder to move without getting tired. They were heading upwards, the slick ground from the rain earlier making it hard to get a good footing without falling. Several times he'd come close to stumbling only to have Solo grab hold of his arm to help him. He hated to admit it, but the elf was actually pretty good with walking in the mud. Still, that didn't mean he'd be able to handle an attack should someone find them and decide they wanted to kill them. That might have been the reason for why Wufei felt a little responsible for taking care of the elf. At least there was that and the fact that Duo would never forgive him if Solo got hurt. It had nothing to do with the fact that he might have actually started to like the little elf.

_Well...he's not really little...damn._

Sighing, Wufei paused at a nearby tree frowning as he looked around. He could swear everything looked the same to him. Were they walking in circles? Nah, if that were the case they would have at least walked on a decline at some point. Instead, they were still heading up.

"What's wrong?" Solo said stopping and frowning looking back at him.

"Nothing," Wufei said grumbling under his breath for a moment. "Nothing completely serious at the moment. It just feels as though we've been walking in circles for a while."

"We're not," Solo said simply.

"And how do you know that?" Wufei said eyeing him with a frown before noticing the little smirk on his lips that reminded him a bit of Duo.

"Because I'm actually starting to feel Shinigami's power nearby. We're getting closer to Duo now. We'll probably be meeting up with them in no time if we keep moving."

"How in the world do you feel...you know what never mind," Wufei said shaking his head. It'd be better if he didn't know the details behind it. "Just lead the way. Whether you're telling the truth or not, we can't stand around here forever." With a simple nod, Solo started off walking again heading into that simple direction and leading Wufei on by an invisible leash. Ok so that's how Wufei felt about it anyway. He had no clue where they were going only that somehow Solo felt like he was getting closer to Duo. If he could get them closer to a town that'd be a plus. But would there really be a town way up here? If not that, then it'd probably be about time to find some water and maybe hunt out some food. It was a shame that they didn't have Trowa with them right that moment since he would have made hunting a hell of a lot easier with that bow of his.

"Hey..." Wufei said staring at the back of Solo's head as he frowned following him. "Exactly where does Shinigami come from?"

"He lives in the cross," Solo answered casually not slowing his pace down.

"And...exactly what is a death god doing inside of a cross?"

"I'm not sure," Solo said continue to walk not slowing down as he answered Wufei's question. "But I believe he might have been sealed there a long time ago. Maybe at one point in the past he might have been free...maybe at that same time the elves feared death so much that they felt he had to be sealed away." He frowned after the words had slipped from his mouth before saying softly, "not that that's doing them any good now considering..."

"Then shouldn't there be some way to seal him again if he gets free?" Wufei asked, the question coming out more casually than how he'd felt about it. He'd heard the small comment but he didn't try to pursue it, not wanting Solo to go into another silent episode like last time.

"There is..." Solo said slowly, a glance over at the elf showing that his eyebrows were twitching in what was probably either frustration or annoyance. "But the consequences of that action are not something I am prepared to witness." He paused in walking and glanced over at Wufei, the frown on his lips again. "And I'd thank you not to tell Duo about this. I'd rather he stay as he is than to ever go through...that."

"And what is that?" Wufei asked watching him waiting for an answer, even looking into his eyes as he tried to go so far as to read something there, only getting a sense of determination and even a little bit of fear in return before Solo turned his head away starting to walk again.

"I can't tell you...just know it would be very bad regardless." Wufei stared after him then shook his head before he moved again starting to follow Solo, his mind processing everything that had been said. What could be so bad that it made even this elf scared? What could it be that this elf didn't even want Duo to know, the person who had to suffer now because of Shinigami? Well it wasn't like Wufei felt he trusted Duo any more than the thief that Heero had been calling him since this all began.

But then he'd learned that Duo wasn't really such a bad guy...elf after all. It was something that was actually making things a bit more complicated for them. Duo was...dare he say it...a friend. He brought a certain charm, a feeling of attachment that brought the group together. So of course Wufei felt he needed to help him somehow, though right now Wufei had no idea how to help the braided one. But he was starting to get the feeling that there was more about Shinigami that Solo wasn't sharing with him.

Well, it wasn't like he could do anything about it right now. All he could do right now is follow Solo and hope they either reached a village or the others before something bad really did happen.

* * *

"Hey Trowa?"

"Hm?" Trowa stopped walking looking back at Quatre, still gently holding his hand like he'd been doing ever since they'd escaped from the river.

"Do you think Heero and the others are ok?"

"I hope so," Trowa said frowning and looking ahead again, giving Quatre's hand a gentle squeeze. "We haven't been able to learn anything about them since we got out of the river. But knowing Heero and Wufei, they'll probably doing just fine. And I doubt Heero would let anything happen to the people he's trying to protect." Trowa glanced back at him smiling at the wide blue eyes staring at him. "I have something I want to protect as well so I'm pretty sure things will work out somehow."

"Oh really?" Quatre asked blushing as he kept following behind him. He wanted to ask what it was, even though he was almost certain he knew what the answer was. His mouth opened to as he started to say he had something important he wanted to protect to, when his stomach grumbled signaling that he was hungry and that they hadn't had a real chance to stop and eat yet.

"Hungry?" Trowa said, pausing and looking back at Quatre making the young blond blush even more in embarrassment. They really hadn't gotten to eat since they'd fought against Mortimer. Even worse, it was going on two days now with no food. "If I still had my bow on me, this wouldn't be a problem at all."

"No it's ok," Quatre said, closing his eyes sure he didn't want to think about seeing some innocent little being killed and skinned, even if it was necessary. "We might be able to find some fruits and apples. And with the recent rain, maybe even some fresh water somewhere."

Maybe if they got lucky, they'd even find signs of the others from their little group. Considering that all hell wasn't breaking loose, Quatre could only assume that Duo was still alive and Shinigami wasn't killing everything in sight.

He couldn't help thinking about Mortimer, the man who'd caused both Duo and Solo to freeze up. Honestly, ever since that man had come to the Winner Mansion, Quatre had felt there was something evil about him. Despite his warnings to his father, it was as though the man himself had already begun his reign of corruption. Though a part of his father's anger was obviously from his sexual preference, other things he did had no explanation. Then again, Quatre didn't see the better part of it since he'd been sent away to a magic school to learn healing arts, something he'd still not managed to master. After the failed attempt to hear an injured mouse, he swore he wouldn't try again to do something like that.

He didn't want to hurt anyone...he didn't want to kill anyone.

"Quatre," Trowa said giving his hand a squeeze to get his attention.

"Hm?" Quatre blinked looking up, cheeks a bit red at having been caught in a daydream. The green eyed male just smiled at him before he turned pointing towards a gathering of small apples growing on a tree.

"I think those might help ease your hunger for a while."

"Are those edible?" Quatre asked, admitting that at this point the ripe coloring was making him hungry enough to eat them even if they were poisonous.

"It's fine," Trowa said walking over to the tree and plucking one of the apples off. "I did a lot of scavenging during my years of training. It's one of the reasons I was picked to come along with Wufei and Heero."

"I never knew that," Quatre said staring at the red fruit in Trowa's hand. He couldn't help watching the taller male lift the apple to his mouth and take a bite out of it.

"It's safe to eat and should hold us a while until we can find some real food." He handed the apple he'd bitten into to Quatre, making the other get all flustered again as he stared at the place Trowa had bit into. "We'll grab a few of these to take with us just in case we end up not finding anything else for a while." Quatre looked up at him nodding his head as he tried casually to bite into the apple, noticing how Trowa was staring at him. Was he making a mess or was it the fact that he'd bit into the same spot Trowa had just earlier.

He didn't take long to chew it, swallowing with ease then staring down at it with a look of wonder. "This is really good. I've never had an apple this juicy or sweet before."

"It fits you then," Trowa said, the words slipping out to quickly for Quatre to register them before he turned around plucking a few more apples from the tree. "It's getting pretty late. We should find some water and see about a place to camp out for the night."

"We could stay here," Quatre said looking around at the wide opening. Not only was it next to the only source of food right now but they could also easily set up a fire and-

"No, we're going to need to stay a lot more hidden," Trowa said having gathered at least eight apples holding them in his shirt before walking over, not realizing that the skin of his tummy was quite visible to Quatre. "We're still being pursued and with us only having a pocket knife, we need as much of an advantage as we can get if someone does find us."

"Ah, you're right," Quatre mumbled feeling a bit dejected. "But we might end up all night trying to find a place."

"Then...are you able to sense people nearby, maybe a town."

He hadn't tried in a while to sense anyone, in the past only getting the feel of the animals in the forest. "I'll try." His eyes closed, as he willed his heart to open up, to reach out seeing if he could feel anything or some kind of emotion from somewhere. For a brief second he thought he'd felt Shinigami's presence but the feeling went away quickly replaced with nothing. Frowning, he tried again feeling his hands clenching up at his sides before a small bit of light radiated in his mind managing to feel Wufei's presence almost feeling like the easily flustered male was calling to him. "...I can sense Wufei," he said opening his eyes and looking into Trowa's one visible eye. "And I think there's a town in that direction too. I felt a lot of smaller flows of energy."

"What direction?" Trowa asked quickly.

"That way," Quatre said pointing off to the northeast. "He seems to be in a hurry though and was pretty far off. Do you think someone might be chasing him?"

"I'm not sure," Trowa said using one hand to hold up the shirt before grabbing Quatre's hand with the other one. "But now we know which way we're heading. We'll go as far as we can before we rest for the night."

"A-Alright," Quatre said feeling his body heat up at the feel of the other holding his hand. Was this really how people in love felt? He wondered if Trowa felt this way too. He shook his head and bit into the apple again deciding that he'd save that for later, only needing to worry about eating and following Trowa for the moment.

TBC...

Yes...that took me forever...man I hate being lazy...and stressed...and lazy...x.x


	23. Spellcaster 23

Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:

Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU

Author's comment: Yay, it didn't take a year this time!

Story note:

_"Yappity yap yap"_ = Mental conversation.

_Duo has a nice ass_ = mental thoughts.

Spellcaster 23

"We should probably stop there for the night," Wufei said frowning as he glanced over at Solo. The other wasn't hearing it, looking off into the distance trying to find a trace of Shinigami's powers that he'd lost well over two hours ago. It was obvious from the look on his face that he was worried about Duo. Wufei was worried too, especially when he didn't even know if anyone was there with him to help save him if something happened.

_But this won't get us anywhere wandering around in the dark where it's even more dangerous._

"Look, if we keep wandering around like this, we're going to wear ourselves out. We need to rest. Do you think you could do anything to help Duo now if you're too worn out to move?"

"I know that," Solo said frowning as the words slipped from his lips. "But…"

"Look…we'll just rest for a couple of hours then we'll start up moving out again. I'm sure right about now, Duo's probably taking a moment to rest in a safe place before he starts off again."

"Fine," Solo sighed looking back at Wufei, making the ebony headed boy's heart skip a beat, granted he didn't even know why he'd been having skipping heart beats so much lately. Maybe he wasn't eating healthy enough. "But just for a few hours." Not that Wufei had any complaints to that considering he was as ready to find everyone else as Solo was. For now though, rest was the best they could do. They needed real food and a place to rest up at.

As strange as it was for Wufei, they were having a hard time of finding any food around. Birds didn't seem to fly around in this forest all that often neither have they seen too many of the creatures that normally lived in the forest. Maybe they sensed something that the human and the elf had missed.

_Or maybe Shinigami went on a rampage and scared them all away._

Giving a sigh of relief, Wufei glanced up ahead again, towards the small town right in front of their eyes. He was surprised to see a town here of all places, but he wasn't dissatisfied by it. At least here they could get a warm bed for a while, some fresh food, and dry clothes to replace the sodden, filthy ones they'd traveled in. He could get a backpack and get some of their food supply reestablish since the river stole everything he had away but the bit of change he still had in his pockets by luck.

"We're not going to have enough for a room and food all at the same time," Wufei said frowning realizing that the amount of coins he had wouldn't be enough to pay for two of them.

"Don't worry about that," Solo said stopping a few feet in front of him and giving him an impish little grin, reminding him of Duo in a way. Well they had been the best of friends at the time, so it's no wonder they're way of acting wasn't too far off. "I've been surviving quite well with no money to speak of."

"What do you mean?" Wufei asked, narrowing his eyes slightly, getting even more suspicious when Solo held up a leaf in his hand.

"I mean this," the older elfin boy said as the small green leaf was tossed straight up in the air and came landing down quickly in the boy's hand, the small shine of a glittering coin flashing before Wufei's eyes. "If we do this, it'll be fine."

"…But…" Wufei frowned at that. "That's like thieving."

"When it comes to survival, you do what you can. Or are you saying it's better to stay out in the open and let Mortimer or those creatures get to us without a fighting chance?" He was right there. There were only two of them trying to guard against who knew how many that were trying to kill them. Just because those guys were after Shinigami didn't mean they wouldn't try to take out the people that were trying to protect the God of Death.

"We have little choice," Wufei relented deciding to let it pass in this case. At least when this was all over, he planned to come back here and pay the people back for taking advantage of them, even if they never find out what happened.

Giving just the briefest of nods, Solo looked at a bundle of leaves on a small tree nearby to them. With just the slightest nod, the leaves changed turning into coins and raining down on the ground with brief jingles as they clanged together. "This should be enough," Solo said going over and starting to pick up the coins.

It wasn't long before they found themselves heading into the small town, frowning as the people looked at them warily, making them wonder if maybe it was a mistake for them to come there. It wasn't just the adults either, but small children and even the horses and other pets that lived there. It was…eerie.

"Just ignore them," Solo said as if he was able to feel Wufei's unease. It might have been possible that he could, considering that he could feel Shinigami and he knew how to use magic. Regardless of the words though, it didn't set Wufei's mind at ease, but he decided he would do his best to disregard the people telling himself that they wouldn't be staying there that long anyway.

They stepped through the inn door, the people inside looking up staring at them not making the feeling go away. Still, Wufei was determined not to show his anxiety, staring the people in the eyes before he found himself glancing away feeling sick to the stomach. Something wasn't right here, something wasn't…natural.

"It might better to leave this place," Wufei said giving out the suggestion.

"No, we should stay here," Solo replied stubbornly. "Otherwise we'll just end up wasting a night of sleep in the forest."

"Better that than to wind up dead here," Wufei mumbled eyeing the people but making sure to avoid their eyes.

"Excuse me," Solo said ignoring Wufei's statement as he stepped further inside heading to the front desk. "My friend here and I were hoping that you would have a room open for the night."

"Sorry," the man behind the counter said, giving them a look as he chewed on the end of a straw. "We're booked solid for the night."

"Booked solid?" Solo said incredulously. He glanced around, Wufei's eyes following his taking in what he saw. Though the guy said it was booked solid, the only people they even saw in the small inn were a couple sitting by the far table by a door, and a small child sitting on the floor in front of them playing with her doll. Even with just this small amount of people, the eyes were unforgiving. "There hardly seems to be anyone here, not to mention for such a solidly booked place, it completely lacks of sound."

"Yes well, regardless of what you see or hear, it is booked solid." The man left it at that, closing the sign in book as he grabs it and leaves heading for the door leading to the back of the shop.

"Hey….where do you think you're going? " Solo started to go after him, but Wufei was quicker this time reaching out and grabbing his arm.

"No, there's no use for that. We'll just try another inn."

"Stupid town, I hate it already." Still, Solo held it in, calming down. The two of them took it upon themselves to go from inn to inn in search of a "vacant" inn until finally one accepted them, apparently tempted by the gold in Solo's hand if nothing else.

"Your room will be number 234," the innkeeper said before looking back at the book he'd been reading disregarding them. Maybe it was Wufei, but it almost felt like this was the only guy who didn't stare at them weirdly. He was even able to strike up a conversation though the man didn't look up at them.

"Don't be too angry with the townsfolk," the guy said, a whistle coming out of his voice as he spoke. "They ain't too use to strangers here."

"Why would that be the case?" Wufei asked, feeling at least a little at ease to not have the staring eyes on him.

"Well, strangers are known to be a thieving group of people. They don't like thieves or liars around here. Most people that come here, try to steal from the people. I don't think you kind folks would do something like that now would ya?" Maybe it was just Wufei's imagination, but he almost felt as though the guy were talking about them in particular getting the slight underlying feel of being accused of the previous words before the old man started to laugh and coughed a bit. "Nah, I guess you two look like a good set o' boys there. I ain't gotta worry about ya using this little old town here. Why, you could even be like family."

"Well, I'm just glad we were able to find a room for the night," Wufei grumbled under his voice before turning and leaving to head upstairs intent on not leaving the other alone for too long.

"You should take care on these long nights," the innkeeper said, the words stopping Wufei on the steps and making him turning his head looking back over his shoulder at the old man sitting at the counter, still looking at the book he was reading. "The townsfolk get pretty darn restless at night when there are strangers around." He laughed, the sound coming out a bit eerie as Wufei felt a shiver run through his body.

Wufei shook his head telling himself that it was all in his imagination. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a warning in those words. Something was going to happen tonight. It made him wonder if maybe they should have stayed out in the woods. Well, it wasn't like it was too late to change their minds. He was going to go on in there and tell Solo that the plan changed and that they were going to keep moving and find some place better.

Wufei paused in front of room 234 hearing the sound of a struggle inside. He felt his body going into a sort of shock, fearing that the elfin boy was in danger. Quickly, he opened the door then paused when he saw Solo inside, holding a small child probably about the age of six with their hands behind their back. From the looks of it, it seemed to be a small boy, at least that's what Wufei was guessing on anyway.

"What...what the heck is going on in here?"

"Sorry," Solo said keeping a grip on the kid not letting him go. "I found him hiding under the bed. He was trying to escape but I caught him and well…."

"…I don't know if I want to ask," Wufei said rubbing his head as he came inside and closed the door. "But what made you think to look under the bed?"

"You know how good my ears are," Solo said grinning like a fool reminding him of Duo. "Anyway, I get the feeling this little guy was planning on stealing from us."

"I'm not a little guy," the kids said pulling away from Solo roughly. Despite the words, Wufei could tell the kid had to be at least six or seven years old. For a moment, Wufei took assumption that the kid's parents must be staying in the inn as well. But looking over the tattered clothes or the skinny body that definitely needed more food, Wufei figured that the kid must be homeless. Whether he had parents around or not, Wufei couldn't determine.

"So where are your parents, kid?" Solo asked, sounding a lot kinder than he ever did with any of them…well…minus Duo. The kid just looked at him frowning and staring though, Wufei was quick to notice something. This kid wasn't like all those other weirdoes in town. Though the stare was heated, similar to Heero's glare, it wasn't the look that screamed with the intent to kill.

"Ok, let's go with something simpler," Solo continued giving the kid a grin as he kneeled down looking up at him. "What's your name?"

The kid stared at him then quickly glanced away, apparently thrown off his game by the kind words as he hesitated before mumbling out, "Kite."

"Well then, Kite, why don't we go out and buy you something good to eat."

The kid looked at him again, eyes going wide as he stared at him. "Do you really mean that?" Kite said, giving him a suspicious look. Who could blame the kid? Here he was stuck with two random strangers who'd just found out he tried to steal from them, and now they were offering to take him to dinner? Not that he was the only one with a frown on his face.

"Actually," Wufei said drawing Solo's and Kite's attention to him. "I think we should really leave this town. Something's not right about this place."

"Aww come on," Solo said grinning and walking over to Wufei elbowing his shoulder. "Weren't you the one who said we should stop here for the night and get some rest?"

"Yeah but..."

"We should get something to eat before it gets too dark," the kid said sounding almost as mature as an adult, except when he started to pick his nose, something Wufei made a face at.

"He's right," Solo said easily teaming up with the kid which only served to aggravate him even more. What happened to all that talk about needing to get to Duo? He was acting like he hadn't been about to tear someone's head off.

"Fine," Wufei said grumbling under his breath. "Just don't come running to me if you come out of this with a missing arm and leg."

"Don't worry, I won't," Solo said the grin on his face again. "So, Kite," he said looking at the kid again, "Where's the good places to eat at?"

* * *

Hilde was startled, waking up in a cold sweat, despite the fact that she was surrounded by several bodies of the people sleeping who had escaped with her. It'd been going on like this for a while now, where she'd wake up in a cold sweat, seeing the cold eyes of Shinigami staring at her through Duo's eyes. It reminded her of the times Duo would have that look on his face, the blank expression and cold eyes being signs that Shinigami was trying to take over. But even then, he still trusted her, just like how she trusted Howard and the big cat named Scythe.

Hilde looked around at the people still asleep, glad she didn't wake them. They had the tougher males standing guard around them, prepared to protect them should anyone try to harm them, especially the women, children, and elderly.

Currently, they were camped outside the city, having received no help from King Treize which more or less shocked her. She wondered if maybe he was under the same spell as Queen Relena had been, but she didn't try to investigate it. They got no help, no food or water from the people inside. No, they were relying on their own strengths now, the women gathering the food while the men hunted with the supplies they had. So far they were making due, but they couldn't stay out here forever. They needed to get some place safe.

Standing, she walked over to a group of the males watching guard, asking them if they'd seen anything suspicious. At the shake of their head, she frowned and turned looking up at the sky. She knew very well that she could take care of herself, having been around Duo for so long. She knew also that the group here truly respected Duo, the young elf having helped them out time and time again with things such as debt or even simple things like repairing parts of a house. He was kind to the elderly and helping to get their cats out of the trees in the city. And he was good friends with both Howard and Hilde.

But with him not here, they really had to rely on themselves for help. Hilde looked towards the city, sitting the castle standing tall in front of them so close yet so far. They hadn't been able to even get in contact with Treize. Perhaps it was even possible he didn't know they were even there. So she was decided that today, she would attempt to get in there. She was going to sneak into King Treize's room and ask him on hands and knees if she had to, to help her friends in need.

_Watch me, Duo. I'll help everyone just like you do._

TBC...

Is it bad that I forgot that Howard and Hilde existed in this story? I think that means I need to start adding them in again soon. Or it means I just got high on the whole DuoXHeero thing going on. And everyone else too. I'm especially having fun teasing Solo and Wufei. Ah...yes updated!


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